Kenya is changing the way short codes are allocated, in a move that could make it easier for businesses to offer services across different mobile networks.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has introduced a new framework that shifts short-code allocation from an operator-based system to a service-based system. Under the new approach, a short code can be linked to a particular service and used across multiple mobile networks, rather than requiring separate codes for customers on different networks.
The framework, announced on September 8, 2026, applies to newly assigned short codes.
The change could be particularly useful for businesses and organisations that rely heavily on USSD, SMS and voice services. Banks, for example, could use one short code for customers on Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom, while schools could use a single number for sending notifications to parents and students.
Broadcasters running SMS voting campaigns and organisations collecting donations could also benefit from the new system.
Under the previous arrangement, businesses often needed different short codes depending on the mobile network being used by their customers. That could make services more difficult to advertise and create confusion for users who had to remember different numbers.
The new framework aims to remove that complication by making the service itself, rather than the mobile operator, the basis for allocating a short code.
Content providers get a bigger role
Another significant change is that content service providers will now be able to apply directly to the Communications Authority for short codes.
Providers can also apply for bulk allocations and subsequently assign those codes to their customers.
Previously, such providers generally had to work through individual mobile network operators. The new arrangement could reduce the number of negotiations required before a service can be launched.
For startups and technology companies building USSD and SMS-based products, this could make it easier to develop services that work across Kenya’s mobile networks from the beginning.
The move is part of Kenya’s wider effort to modernise the management of its national numbering resources. Telephone numbers and short codes are limited resources, and regulators have been updating the country’s numbering framework as mobile usage and digital services continue to expand.
Kenya’s numbering plan already includes national short codes such as 112 and 999 for emergency services and 116 for the Child Helpline. Previous proposals have also included harmonising short codes and replacing older guidelines governing their allocation.
Existing codes will continue to work
For ordinary Kenyans, the changes are unlikely to have an immediate impact.
Existing short codes allocated under the previous system will continue to operate until their contractual or other applicable terms expire. This means customers should not suddenly find that their bank’s USSD service has stopped working simply because of the new framework.
The major change will apply to newly allocated codes, which can now be assigned according to the service they provide rather than the specific mobile network on which they operate.
The reform comes as Kenya undertakes a broader review of its telecommunications regulations, including proposals concerning the recycling of inactive phone numbers and new regulatory arrangements for emerging areas of digital infrastructure.
For businesses, however, the most immediate benefit could be straightforward: one service, one short code, across multiple networks.
If successfully implemented, the new system could make Kenya’s USSD and SMS ecosystem easier to use, easier to market and more accessible to companies building digital services for the country’s increasingly connected population.
