SMS basics
Bangla SMS character limit: how many characters fit in one SMS?
By the Amar SMS team6 min read
Quick answer
One Bangla SMS holds up to 70 characters. Longer messages are split into parts of 67 characters, so 2 SMS carry up to 134 characters and 3 SMS up to 201. English (GSM-7) SMS hold 160 characters, or 153 per part. A single Bangla letter or emoji turns the whole message into a 70-character Unicode SMS.
Key takeaways
- Bangla (Unicode): 70 characters in one SMS, 67 per part after that.
- English (GSM-7): 160 characters in one SMS, 153 per part after that.
- One Bangla letter, emoji or curly quote makes the entire message Unicode.
- Bangla conjuncts count every code point: ক্ষ is 3 characters, not 1.
- You pay per part, so 71 Bangla characters cost the same as 134.
SMS character limits at a glance
Every SMS travels in a payload of 140 bytes. How many characters fit depends on the encoding the network has to use for your text.
| Message | 1 SMS | Per part (2+) | 2 SMS | 3 SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangla / Unicode | 70 | 67 | 134 | 201 |
| English / GSM-7 | 160 | 153 | 306 | 459 |
Why a Bangla SMS holds fewer characters
English text uses the GSM-7 alphabet, where each character takes 7 bits. 140 bytes is 1,120 bits, and 1,120 ÷ 7 = 160 characters.
Bangla letters are not in the GSM-7 alphabet, so the message is sent as UCS-2 (Unicode), where each character takes 16 bits. 1,120 ÷ 16 = 70 characters.
When a message is longer than one SMS, each part carries a small header (the UDH) so the phone can join the parts back together in order. The header takes room, which is why the limit per part drops to 153 (GSM-7) and 67 (Unicode).
One Bangla letter changes the whole message
Encoding is decided for the whole message, not word by word. If an English message contains even one character outside GSM-7, every character is sent as Unicode and the limit falls from 160 to 70.
- A Bangla word or a single Bangla digit (১, ২, ৩).
- An emoji 🙂. Most emoji also count as 2 characters.
- Curly quotes “ ” and ‘ ’ pasted from Word or a phone keyboard.
- Symbols such as ৳, •, … or the long dash —.
How Bangla conjuncts and vowel signs are counted
Networks count Unicode code points, not the shapes you see on screen. Bangla builds many letters from several code points, so a word can count longer than it looks.
| You see | Code points | Counts as |
|---|---|---|
| ক | ক | 1 |
| কি | ক + ি | 2 |
| ক্ষ | ক + ্ + ষ | 3 |
| স্ত্র | স + ্ + ত + ্ + র | 5 |
| ধন্যবাদ | ধ + ন + ্ + য + ব + া + দ | 7 |
Spaces, full stops (।) and line breaks count as characters too.
English characters that count twice
Some GSM-7 symbols live in an extension table and need an escape character, so each one counts as 2 characters: ^ { } \ [ ] ~ | and €. A message full of brackets reaches 160 sooner than you expect.
How character count affects your SMS cost
Operators bill per SMS part. Crossing a limit by one character adds a whole part to every recipient.
| Message length | SMS parts | Cost per recipient | Cost for 10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 characters | 1 | ৳0.31 | ৳3,100 |
| 71 characters | 2 | ৳0.62 | ৳6,200 |
| 134 characters | 2 | ৳0.62 | ৳6,200 |
| 135 characters | 3 | ৳0.93 | ৳9,300 |
Current rates for every plan are on the SMS price list.
7 ways to fit your message in fewer SMS
- 1Aim for 70 (Bangla) or 160 (English) when the message allows it.
- 2If you need two parts, use all 134 Bangla characters: the second part is already paid for.
- 3Don't mix scripts by accident: one Bangla word in an English OTP makes it Unicode.
- 4Replace curly quotes, long dashes and ellipses with plain ' " - and ... in English messages.
- 5Leave emoji out of transactional SMS.
- 6Use short links, and cut greetings that add no information.
- 7Test the final text in the character counter before a big send.
What is the maximum length of one message?
Amar SMS accepts up to 1,000 characters in one message. That is 15 parts in Bangla (67 per part) or 7 parts in English (153 per part). Very long SMS cost more and are harder to read on a phone, so most business messages stay within one or two parts.
