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Product Overview

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data or USSD in short is a service that allows mobile phone users to interact with a remote application from their device in real time. A predefined session is started once a user dials in to facilitate the transfer of information between your application and the user. It is a highly scalable service as it does not require an internet connection and is supported by both feature and smartphones

Dedicated USSD

This is a three digit code for example *483# that is used solely by one user for their company or service.

Shared USSD

This is a code that is used by multiple companies or services. Each company is allocated a channel on our dedicated codes, for example *483*X#

The Power of Exposure

Dumi Kaliati, a developer based in Malawi, saw an opportunity to turn people’s mobile phones into their own personal billboards and classifieds through Peza, a USSD and SMS based mobile application that acts as a mobile marketing platform for blue collar professionals

Read their story

Use cases

Query services

Give access to structured information from your application with USSD menus. The interactive nature can layer leading questions to deliver the right information.

Data collection

USSD is a powerful tool for data collection because it is universally accessible on any mobile phone. The session-based nature of USSD services also make them better suited for structured surveys as compared to SMS.

User Registration

USSD is a powerful marketing tool for leading users to quickly register for your service. Enhance the customer on boarding experience by adding services such as SMS and Voice to your USSD application.

Features

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High Capacity

Our USSD gateway is built to handle thousands of concurrent API requests at any one time.

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Flexible Pricing

Choose between pre-paid and post paid billing options depending on your business needs.

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Painless Integration

We have made it easy for a developer to build and deploy a USSD application within minutes.

Pricing

Kenya

Shared USSD Code

USSD Code Set Up Monthly Maintenance
*483*X# or *789*X# Free KES 40,000
*483*XX# or *789*XX# Free KES 30,000
*483*XXX# or *789*XXX# Free KES 20,000
483*XXXX# or *789*XXXX# and more Free KES 10,000

Pre-Paid costs per session (Cost is covered by the end user)

A shared USSD code will be raised on Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom.  

The telco deducts the cost of the session directly from the end users’ airtime. We charge an amount per session as well as indicated in the table below. A compulsory deposit of KES 5,000 is required for the session cost

Network Telco Charge to the End User Africa’s Talking Infrastructure Fee
Safaricom KES 1 KES 0.25
Airtel KES 3 KES 0.25
Telkom KES 1 KES 0.25

Dedicated USSD Code

Telco Test Bed Set Up Cost Deposit(One Off) Monthy Maintenance (*XXX#) Monthy Maintenance (*XXX*X#) And More
Safaricom KES 17,400 KES 145,000 KES 70,000 KES 58,000
Airtel KES 116,000 KES 46,400
Telkom KES 17,400 KES 58,000 KES 28,500 KES 40,600
Equitel KES 15,000 KES 60,000 KES 58,000

Post-Paid costs per session (Cost is covered by the code owner)

A compulsory deposit of KES 10,000 is required for the session cost

Network Basic Plan
KES 0 - 19,999		 Plus Plan
KES 20,000 - 99,999		 Premium Plan
KES 100,000 - 399,999		 Max Plan
KES 400,000+
Safaricom KES 1.5 KES 1.5 KES 1.25 KES 1.25

Pre-Paid costs per session (Cost is covered by the end user)

The telco deducts the cost of the session directly from the end users’ airtime. We charge an amount per session as well as indicated in the table below. A compulsory deposit of KES 10,000 is required for the session cost

Network Telco Charge to the End User Africa’s Talking Infrastructure fee
Safaricom KES 1 KES 0.25
Airtel KES 3 KES 0.25
Telkom KES 1 KES 0.25
Equitel KES 1 KES 0.25

Shared USSD Code

Type Cost
Set Up Cost Free
Monthly Maintenance (Postpaid) UGX 500,000
Monthly Maintenance (Prepaid) UGX 700,000

Post-Paid costs (Cost is covered by the code owner)

A compulsory deposit of UGX 250,000 is required for the session cost

Network Cost
MTN
(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)		 UGX 45
Airtel
(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)		 UGX 45

* MTN is time-based E.g 60 seconds spent on a session will incur 3x the cost.
* Airtel is time-based E.g 60 seconds spent on a session will incur 3x the costs.

Prepaid session costs (Cost is covered by the end user)
Network Telco charge to the end user Africa’s Talking Infrastructure Fee
MTN UGX 35
(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)		 UGX 10
(Charges are per 180 seconds of a session)
Airtel UGX 35
(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)		 UGX 10
(Charges are per 180 seconds of a session)
**A compulsory deposit of UGX 250,000 is required for session costs


Dedicated USSD Code

Application

Service Cost Paid to
Code application fee USD 250 + 18% VAT UCC
Initial Entry fee USD 1,000 + 18% VAT UCC
Code annual fee USD 10,000 + 18% VAT UCC
Code connectivity to networks (per Telco) UGX 450,000 Telcos
Setup fee UGX 1,100,000 Africa's Talking
Monthly maintenance fee UGX 500,000 Africa's Talking

Post-Paid costs (Cost is covered by the code owner)

A compulsory deposit of UGX 250,000 is required for the session cost

* MTN is time-based
E.g 60 seconds spent on a session will incur 3x the cost.
* Airtel is time-based
E.g 60 seconds spent on a session will incur 3x the costs. **A compulsory deposit of UGX 250,000 is required for session costs
Network Cost
MTN (Charges are per 20 seconds of a session) UGX 45
Airtel (Charges are per 20 seconds of a session) UGX 45
Prepaid session costs (Cost is covered by the end user)
Network Telco charge to the end user Africa’s Talking Infrastructure Fee
MTN UGX 35
(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)		 UGX 10
(Charges are per 180 seconds of a session)
Airtel UGX 35
(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)		 UGX 10
(Charges are per 180 seconds of a session)
**A compulsory deposit of UGX 250,000 is required for session costs

Shared USSD Code

A shared USSD code will be raised on Airtel, Tigo and Vodacom. The setup is FREE and the overall monthly maintenance fee is $110


A compulsory deposit of TZS 150,000 is required for the session cost

Telco Basic Plan
(TZS 0 - 499,999)		 Plus Plan
(TZS 500,000 - 2,499,999)		 Premium Plan
(TZS 2,500,000 - 9,999,999)		 Max Plan
(TZS 10,000,000 +)
Vodacom
(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session) 		TZS 75 TZS 70 TZS 67 TZS 65
Tigo TZS 40 TZS 35 TZS 30 TZS 20
Airtel TZS 45 TZS 40 TZS 35 TZS 30

Dedicated USSD Code

A dedicated USSD code will be raised on Airtel, Tigo and Vodacom and attract an overall monthly maintenance fee of $150


A compulsory deposit of TZS 150,000 is required for the session cost


Application

Service Cost Paid to
USSD code Acquisition USD 2,000 TCRA
USSD Licence Renewal USD 2,500 TCRA
Application Fee USD 50 TCRA
Administration Fee TZS 1,600,000 Africa's Talking
Monthly Maintenance Fee USD 150 Africa's Talking

Intergration

Intergration

Mobile Operator Annual Fee Set up
Airtel USD 700 USD 200
Tigo Free USD 50
Vodacom Free USD 50

Price per session

A compulsory deposit of TZS 150000 is required for the session cost

Telco Basic Plan
(TZS 0 - 499,999)		 Plus Plan
(TZS 500,000 - 2,499,999)		 Premium Plan
(TZS 2,500,000 - 9,999,999)		 Max Plan
(TZS 10,000,000 +)
Vodacom

(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)

 TZS 75 TZS 70 TZS 67 TZS 65
Tigo TZS 40 TZS 35 TZS 30 TZS 20
Airtel TZS 45 TZS 40 TZS 35 TZS 30

Shared USSD Code

A shared USSD code will be raised on MTN & Airtel.


A compulsory deposit of RWF 90,600 is required for the session cost

Service Cost
One off setup fee RWF 86,500
Monthly maintenance fee RWF 26,000
Session cost RWF 13 per Telco

Dedicated USSD Code

A compulsory deposit of RWF 90,600 is required for the session cost


Application

Service Cost
RURA Application Fee RWF 25,000
RURA USSD fee (Paid annually) RWF 1,300,000

Services

Telco Set up fee(One off) Monthly maintenance fee Session Cost
MTN RWF 100,000 RWF 259,500 RWF 13
Airtel RWF 150,000 RWF 259,500 RWF 13

Shared USSD Code

A shared USSD code will be raised on MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9 Mobile.

Type Cost
Set Up Cost Free
Monthly Maintenance NGN 53,750

Post Paid (Owner of the code pays for the session costs)

Telco Basic Plan
NGN 0 - 99,999		 Plus Plan
NGN 100,000 - 499,999		 Premium Plan
NGN 500,000 - 999,999		 Max Plan
NGN 1,000,000+
MTN
(Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)		 NGN 7.5 NGN 7.0 NGN 6.8 NGN 6.5

E.g 40 seconds spent on a session will incur 2x the cost.

Pre Paid (End user pays for the cost of the session)

The telco deducts the cost of the session directly from the end users’ airtime. We charge an amount per session as well as indicated in the table below.

Telco Telco charge to end user Basic Plan
NGN 0 - 99,999		 Plus Plan
NGN 100,000 - 499,999		 Premium Plan
NGN 500,000 - 999,999		 Max Plan
NGN 1,000,000+
Airtel
(Charges per 20 seconds of a session)		 NGN 4.89 NGN 2.00 NGN 1.50 NGN 1.20 NGN 0.90
Glo
(Charges per 120 seconds of a session)		 NGN 10 NGN 2.00 NGN 1.50 NGN 1.20 NGN 0.90
9 Mobile
(Charges per 20 seconds of a session)		 4.50 NGN 2.00 NGN 1.50 NGN 1.20 NGN 0.90

Dedicated USSD Code

A dedicated USSD code will be raised on MTN, Airtel and 9 Mobile and attract an overall monthly maintenance fee of NGN 70000 + 7.5% VAT

Service Cost Paid to
USSD Application NGN 11,500 NCC
USSD Code Acquisition NGN 100,000 + 7.5% VAT Africa's Talking
Integration NGN 100,000 + 7.5% VAT Africa's Talking
Connection to MTN (All Sectors) NGN 500,000 + 7.5% VAT Africa's Talking
Connection to 9 Mobile (Financial Institutions) NGN 770,000 9 Mobile
Redeemable session cost NGN 225,000 + 7.5% VAT Africa's Talking
Monthly Maintenance NGN 70,000 + 7.5% VAT Africa's Talking

Post Paid (Owner of the code pays for the session costs)

Price per session

Telco Telco Charge to Code Owner AT Infrastructure fee
MTN
(Charges per 120 seconds of a session)		 NGN 6.98 (Banks/MFBs) NGN 2.0
MTN
(Charges per 20 seconds of a session)		 NGN 2.25 NGN 2.0
Airtel
(Charges per 20 seconds of a session)		 NGN 6.98(Banks/MFBs) NGN 2.0

Airtel Session Charges for Non-MFBs (Charges are per 20 seconds of a session)

Session Band: Transaction Counts/20 seconds Telco Charge to Code Owner per 20 seconds AT Infrastructure fee
100,000 - 10,000,000 NGN 4.0 NGN 2.0
10,000,000 - 19,999,999 NGN 3.5 NGN 2.0
20,000,000 - 39,999,999 NGN 3.0 NGN 2.0
40,000,000+ NGN 2.5 NGN 2.0

9 Mobile Postpaid session charges

Session Band: Transaction Counts/20 seconds Telco Charge to Code Owner per 20 seconds AT Infrastructure fee
100,000 NGN 4.10 NGN 2.0
250,000 NGN 3.89 NGN 2.0
500,000 NGN 3.69 NGN 2.0
1,000,000 NGN 3.48 NGN 2.0
2,500,000 NGN 3.28 NGN 2.0
5,000,000 NGN 3.07 NGN 2.0
10,000,000 NGN 2.87 NGN 2.0
20,000,000+ NGN 2.56 NGN 2.0

Pre Paid (End user pays for the cost of the session)

Price per session

The telco deducts the cost of the session directly from the end users' airtime. We charge an amount per session as well as indicated in the table below.

Telco Telco Charge to end user AT Infrastructure fee
Airtel
(Charges per 20 seconds of a session)		 NGN 4.89 NGN 2.0
9 Mobile
(Charges per 20 seconds of a session)		 NGN 4.50 NGN 2.0

Shared USSD Code

A shared USSD code will be raised on Airtel

Type Cost
Set Up Cost Free
Monthly Maintenance MWK 25,000

Dedicated USSD Code

A dedicated USSD code will be raised on TNM and Airtel


A compulsory deposit of $100 is required for the session cost

Application

Service Cost Paid to
USSD code acquisition Free MACRA
Setup Fee MWK 400,000 AfricasTalking

Services

Telco Monthly Maintenance Fee Session Cost
Airtel MWK 280,000 MWK 25
TNM MWK 250,000 MWK 25

Shared USSD Code

A shared USSD code will be raised on Airtel, MTN and Zamtel


A compulsory deposit of $100 is required for the session cost

Telco Set Up (One-off) Monthly Maintenance Fee
Airtel, MTN & Zamtel ZMW 1,000 ZMW 6,000

Postpaid costs per session (Owner of the code is charged for the session)

Basic Plan
(ZMW 0 - 2,499)		 Plus Plan
(ZMW 2,500 - 12,499)		 Premium Plan
(ZMW 12,500 - 49,999)		 Max Plan
(ZMW 50,000+)
ZMW 0.10 ZMW 0.08 ZMW 0.07 ZMW 0.06

Dedicated USSD Code

A dedicated USSD code will be raised on Airtel, MTN and Zamtel


A compulsory deposit of $100 is required for the session cost

Application

Service Cost Paid to
USSD code acquisition ZMW 42,000 ZICTA
USSD licence renewal ZMW 30,000 ZICTA

Services

Telco Integration Cost Monthly Maintenance Fee
Airtel ZMW 5,000 ZMW 10,000
MTN ZMW 5,000 ZMW 10,000
Zamtel ZMW 5,000 ZMW 15,000

Postpaid costs per session (Owner of the code is charged for the session)

Basic Plan
(ZMW 0 - 2,499)		 Plus Plan
(ZMW 2,500 - 12,499)		 Premium Plan
(ZMW 12,500 - 49,999)		 Max Plan
(ZMW 50,000+)
ZMW 0.10 ZMW 0.08 ZMW 0.07 ZMW 0.06

Shared USSD Code

A shared USSD code will be raised on MTN, Vodacom, CellC and Telkom.


A compulsory deposit of $100 is required for the session cost

Type Cost
Set Up Cost Free
Monthly Maintenance Fee ZAR 1,000

Post-Paid costs per session (Cost is covered by the code owner)

Network Cost
All Telcos ZAR 0.50 (per 20 seconds)

Pre-Paid costs per session (Cost is covered by the end user)

The telco deducts the cost of the session directly from the end users’ airtime. We charge an amount per session as well as indicated in the table below.

Network Cost
All Telcos ZAR 0.25 (per 20 seconds)

Dedicated USSD Code

A dedicated USSD code will be raised on MTN, Vodacom, CellC and Telkom.


A compulsory deposit of $100 is required for the session cost

Type Cost
Set Up Cost ZAR 4,200
Monthly Maintenance Fee ZAR 3,500

Post-Paid costs per session (Cost is covered by the code owner)

Network Cost
Vodacom, MTN, Telkom and CellC ZAR 0.50 (per 20 seconds)

Pre-Paid costs per session (Cost is covered by the end user)

The telco deducts the cost of the session directly from the end users’ airtime. We charge an amount per session as well as indicated in the table below.

Network Cost
Vodacom, MTN, Telkom and CellC ZAR 0.25 (per 20 seconds)

Shared USSD

A shared USSD code will be raised on MTN, Airtel Tigo and Telecel. A compulsory deposit of $100 is required for the session cost

Type Cost
Free USSD Set Up Fee
GHC 900 Monthly Maintenance Fee
GHC 0.03 Postpaid Session Cost

Dedicated USSD

A dedicated USSD code will be raised on MTN, Airtel Tigo and Telecel. A compulsory deposit of $100 is required for the session cost

Type Cost
GHS 2,100 Annual Regulator Fee (3 Digit Code)
GHS 500 Annual Regulator Fee (4 Digit Code)
GHS 3,500 MTN Set up Fee (One off)
GHS 3,500 Airtel Tigo Set up Fee (One off)
GHS 4,500 Telecel Set up Fee (One off)
GHS 3,500 Monthly maintenance fee (MTN)
GHS 3,500 Monthly maintenance fee (Airtel Tigo)
GHS 4,000 Monthly maintenance fee (Vodafone)
GHS 0.03 Postpaid session cost

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