Send SMS to Portugal
from $0.0170/msg

import fetch from "node-fetch";

const apiKey = process.env.SMSROUTE_API_KEY;

const res = await fetch("https://api.smsroute.cc/v1/sms/send", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    to: "+3515551234567",
    from: "smsroute",
    text: "Your verification code is 384921",
  }),
});

console.log(await res.json());

import requests

api_url = "https://api.smsroute.cc/v1/send"
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

payload = {
    "recipient": "+351 91 234 5678",
    "message": "Your verification code is 123456",
    "sender_id": "YourCompany"
}

response = requests.post(api_url, json=payload, headers=headers)
print(response.json())

curl -X POST https://api.smsroute.cc/v1/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "recipient": "+351 91 234 5678",
    "message": "Your verification code is 123456",
    "sender_id": "YourCompany"
  }'

package main

import (
    "bytes"
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "net/http"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    payload, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]string{
        "to":   "+3515551234567",
        "from": "smsroute",
        "text": "Your verification code is 384921",
    })

    req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST",
        "https://api.smsroute.cc/v1/sms/send",
        bytes.NewBuffer(payload))
    req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("SMSROUTE_API_KEY"))
    req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

    resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
    if err != nil { panic(err) }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

<?php
$apiKey = getenv('SMSROUTE_API_KEY');

$payload = json_encode([
    'to'   => '+3515551234567',
    'from' => 'smsroute',
    'text' => 'Your verification code is 384921',
], JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE);

$ch = curl_init('https://api.smsroute.cc/v1/sms/send');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Authorization: Bearer ' . $apiKey,
        'Content-Type: application/json',
    ],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => $payload,
]);

echo curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

Mobile Operator Coverage and Interconnect

MEO (Altice Portugal) dominates the Portuguese mobile market with 36% subscriber share. MEO operates an extensive LTE and 5G network covering urban and suburban regions, with legacy 3G/2G coverage in remote areas. Direct interconnect with MEO is standard; delivery via MEO typically completes within 150–250 ms.

Vodafone Portugal holds 32% market share and operates a competitive LTE/5G footprint. Vodafone's network covers urban centers and most populated areas. Interconnect is direct, with typical p50 latency of 180–220 ms. Vodafone has been an early adopter of spam-filtering technology; Sender ID registration is especially important for Vodafone delivery success.

NOS (NumericaOne Services) serves 28% of Portuguese mobile subscribers. NOS originally built its network as a cable operator and later expanded mobile services through partnerships. NOS maintains direct interconnect and generally processes SMS within 200–350 ms. NOS applies stricter filtering for unregistered Sender IDs, so registration with ANACOM is recommended before large campaigns via NOS.

UBIWHERE accounts for a small residual 4% share as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). UBIWHERE routes traffic via one of the three major carriers, so reliability depends on the underlying carrier. smsroute.cc's interconnects ensure coverage across all four operators, maximizing reach across the 10.5 million Portuguese mobile subscriber base.

Pricing Comparison: smsroute.cc vs. Competitors

For a campaign of 100,000 SMS to Portugal, smsroute.cc costs $1,700 total. Twilio charges $3,090 (difference: $1,390). Vonage costs $2,630 (difference: $930). These savings compound across multiple countries; if you send to all 149 supported nations, the total cost advantage over traditional carriers becomes substantial.

smsroute.cc pricing is transparent, with no hidden overage fees, no carrier surcharges, and no monthly minimums. You pay only for messages sent.

Latency and Delivery Success

smsroute.cc maintains direct, optimized interconnects with MEO, Vodafone, and NOS, the three carriers serving 96% of Portuguese mobile subscribers. Median SMS delivery latency (p50) is 195 milliseconds, meaning half of all messages arrive within 195 ms of submission. The 95th percentile latency (p95) is 350 ms—95% of messages are delivered within 350 ms.

Delivery success rate for Portugal stands at 98.8%, meaning 988 out of every 1,000 valid, compliant SMS messages successfully reach the recipient's inbox. The remaining 1.2% failure rate is attributable to invalid numbers (out of service, wrong formatting), network outages (rare), or carrier-side filtering (spam lists, unregistered Sender IDs). Registering your Sender ID with ANACOM and maintaining strict consent records push success rates toward 99.5%+.

Uptime for the smsroute.cc platform is 99.9%, meaning infrastructure downtime averages less than 43 minutes per month. Tier-1 SMS delivery (guaranteed attempt within 60 seconds) is 99%, with retry logic covering temporary carrier congestion.

GDPR, Portuguese ePrivacy Law, and the Explicit Consent Requirement

Portugal falls under the EU GDPR framework and additionally enforces its own ePrivacy Law (Lei da Privacidade na Sociedade da Informação). Both statutes require that senders obtain explicit, affirmative consent before initiating marketing SMS contact.

The regulator overseeing SMS compliance is ICP-ANACOM (Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações). ANACOM publishes guidance on legitimate SMS sending and maintains an enforcement log of operators and senders who have violated consent or Sender ID rules. The regulator has published enforcement actions against major senders, resulting in fines in the five- to seven-figure range for persistent non-compliance.

Under GDPR and Portuguese law, explicit opt-in means that the recipient must actively, unambiguously signal consent—typically via a checkbox, signed form, or confirmed SMS response—before any marketing message is sent. Silence, pre-checked boxes, or inferred consent are not acceptable. Senders must retain dated, timestamped evidence of that consent for at least as long as the relationship exists and for up to three years after the last message, in case of audit.

Portugal does not permit soft opt-in for marketing SMS. Some EU member states allow companies to send SMS to existing customers without prior explicit consent if a prior purchase relationship exists. Portugal does not recognize this exception. All marketing SMS—even to existing, paying customers—require documented double opt-in.

Transactional SMS (e.g., order confirmations, password resets, delivery notifications) do not require prior consent, provided they are genuinely transactional and not hybrid marketing + transaction messages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Pages

• All Country Pricing
• Developer Docs & API Reference
• Send SMS to 149 Countries
• Send SMS to France
• Send SMS to Germany
• Send SMS to United Kingdom

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