With recognition from Anatel and participation by major mobile operators, ABR‑Telecom will build a national central directory system for short codes to strengthen full-chain traceability of A2P‑SMS and curb spam SMS, SMS fraud and misuse.
Previously, Brazilian SMS short codes were not directly regulated by Anatel. They circulated based on commercial contracts between companies; short codes could be freely transferred between aggregators and downstream clients without unified registration. It was difficult to identify responsible parties after fraud or spam incidents, a long-standing industry pain point.
The new mechanism adopts industry self-regulation. The directory records the entire business chain, including contracting information of operators, aggregators and end-user enterprises. In case of non-compliant messages, regulators can quickly trace liable parties via registration records. Operators will pass obligations downstream through contracts, requiring SMS aggregators and downstream businesses to comply with the registration rules.
The system is independently developed by ABR‑Telecom. Anatel completed Phase 1 work of its special working group in January 2026 and submitted the full plan and implementation roadmap to the board for review. Detailed rules will later be shared with major SMS aggregators. ABR‑Telecom already operates telecom infrastructure services including number portability, roaming and caller ID authentication.
