# Create a workspace, register a sender, and send your first message from the same API you will scale on.

[How sender-ID registration works →](/products/sms/compliance/sender-id-registration)

## The rest of the SMS platform

One API, one set of keys. Explore the other capabilities.

- [Sender-ID registration](/products/sms/compliance/sender-id-registration): Pre-register alphanumeric and dedicated senders where countries require it.
- [Routing](/products/sms/routing): 190+ countries, 240 direct-to-carrier links, and automatic failover.
- [Numbers](/products/sms/numbers): Long codes, short codes, toll-free, and alphanumeric sender IDs.
- [Sending](/products/sms/sending): The send API: segments, Unicode safety, batch, and idempotency.
- [Two-way](/products/sms/two-way): Inbound SMS and conversational replies as HMAC-signed webhooks.
- [All destinations](/products/sms/destinations): Coverage, sender types, and rules for every country Bird reaches.

[Get started](/dashboard/signup?returnTo=%2Fdashboard%2Fw%2Fsms%2Fdestinations)

[Explore the SMS platform](/products/sms)

## Sending SMS to United Kingdom

- Country code: GB (dialing +44)
- Channels available: sms, whatsapp, voice
- Two-way messaging: yes

### Sender types

| Sender | Direction | Throughput (msg/s) | Registration | Timeline |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Short code | two-way | — | required (ctia_short_code) | 40 |
| Alphanumeric Sender ID | one-way | — | required (alpha) | 5 |
| Long code (phone number) | two-way | — | required (numeric) | 5 |

### Rules

- Consent model: opt-in
- Template pre-approval: yes
- Quiet hours: enforced
- Sender IDs: one segment per sender ID, marketing or transactional
- Sender IDs: generic sender names are refused
- Sender IDs: the only special characters accepted are ., -, _, &, a space
- Sender IDs: a letter cannot be swapped for a digit that looks like it

- United Kingdom enforces strict segmentation between marketing and transactional messaging:
- Each Sender ID can only be registered for one segment—either marketing or transactional. If your content spans both, you must register separate Sender IDs for each.
- Generic senders (e.g. Verify), sub-variations of generic senders (verify), and senders which contain part of generic senders (VerifyCode), are not allowed. 
- Following special characters are allowed: "." (dot), "-" (dash), "_" (underscore), " " (space), "&" (ampersand). All other special characters are not supported. 
- Character replacement (e.g. A to 4, or B to 8, etc.) is not allowed. 
- If the company name and requested sender have different names, please make sure to specify what is the connection between them. 
- Sender IDs belonging to Russian companies can not be registered

#### What this market refuses

Gambling is legal and regulated in this market. All forms of online gambling require a license from the Commission. To register a Sender ID, you must include a copy of your gambling license with your request. Additionally, some senders are protected by UK operators, which may require an authorization letter for registration.



## Related resources

- [SMS overview](/docs/guides/sms/overview) (docs)
- [SMS destinations](/products/sms/destinations) (product)

[Get an implementation brief](/learn/workspace?topic=sms-destinations)