SMS on our own operator links, being built now
luftflow runs USSD today. SMS is being built beside it on our own interconnects with MTN, Airtel and Zamtel rather than resold from another aggregator, so a flow can send a passcode or a receipt while the caller is still on the line.
Not live yet
Nothing here sends a message today. The gateway is being built, the operator agreements are being negotiated network by network, and no date is promised until the first one is signed.
What works today is USSD: draw a menu, test every path on a simulated phone, and put it on a short code. Try the editor.
What SMS will do
The rules the USSD engine already keeps: every send recorded, nothing sent twice, and a test before it goes live.
- One-time passcodes and alerts from a flow
- A screen in a flow sends a message while the caller is still on the line. The send is queued rather than dialled inline, so it cannot slow the session down, and replaying a session never sends it twice.
- A delivery receipt kept per message
- Accepted, submitted, delivered or failed, each with its own time, per segment and per route. Enough to settle an argument about an operator's invoice.
- Bulk campaigns that cost what they said
- Import a list, write a template with merge fields, and see the segment count and the price per recipient before anything leaves. Pause or cancel a campaign while it runs.
- An API you can retry safely
- Post a message with an idempotency key and get back accepted, duplicate or rejected, the same answer the editor gives its own edits. Status webhooks to your URL, retried with backoff for hours rather than dropped.
- Credits priced per network
- A rate card per customer and network rather than one flat price a segment, with credit reserved when a message is accepted and settled when the operator takes it.
One flow, two channels
A USSD flow and an SMS are not two products here.
The wallet template already tells a caller they will get an SMS; making that true is the point. The flow you draw and test in the editor will send it, the same version and approval rules will hold, and the simulated phone will show the message before anyone dials. The guide covers how a flow is built today.
Our own operator links, not another aggregator's
luftflow competes with the aggregators, so it does not resell one.
- An interconnect per network, MTN, Airtel and Zamtel first, with the rate, the messages a second and the number of sessions agreed with each.
- A private link to each operator from a fixed address, shared with the USSD traffic that already reaches MTN.
- Sender ID registration handled per network, with its state on a page rather than in an email thread.
- A route is an abstraction: SMPP where an operator offers it, HTTP where it does not, and a premium route for a network with no agreement yet.
- Self-hosting stays possible. The gateway is a service you can run on your own network, as the USSD runtime is.
What we will not promise yet
Written down so nobody plans around something that does not exist.
- No live date. The first operator agreement decides it, not the code.
- No price a message until the rate cards are signed.
- Two-way SMS, where a keyword on a short code drives a flow, is designed and not built.
- The aggregator licence position with ZICTA is still being checked.
- Countries beyond Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria are not planned yet.
Questions
When will SMS be live?
When the first operator agreement is signed and the gateway has run against it. Ask on the early-access form and we will tell you where that has got to, rather than a date we invented.
Which countries come first?
Zambia first, because that is where the operator conversations are. Kenya and Nigeria follow, which is where most early-access requests come from.
Can we keep using Africa's Talking in the meantime?
Yes. luftflow works with Africa's Talking for USSD today and will keep doing so. SMS through luftflow will be another way to send, not one you are moved onto.
Will it be priced per segment?
Per segment, but from a rate card per network rather than one flat price, because what an operator charges differs by network and by volume. The editor counts the segments before a campaign sends.
Can we use our own sender ID and short code?
That is the plan: your sender ID registered with each network, and your short code for two-way messages once those are built. A short code you already hold stays yours.
Tell us what you would send
Early access is open to teams in Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria and across Africa. Say on the form what you send today and what it costs you; that is what decides which operator we sign first.
Request early access