is it possible to identify telecom provider by mobile or phone number?

Question

There are ulimited online bulk sms provider supporting Restful API. Mainly I look into Nexmo, Tropo, Twilio pricing in different countries.

Let take an example sms to Brazil.

[ TROPO ]

2¢ / msg

[ Nexmo ]

3.63¢ / msg

[ Twilio ] Twilo offers based on providers. see the pricing.

Vivo    8.3¢ / msg
Claro   8.6¢ / msg
TIM     1.2¢ / msg
Oi      8.3¢ / msg

So, What I want is before sending SMS, I want to identify the Provider. See the example sending sms to TIM is cheaper in Twilio but others Tropo and Nexmo are cheaper. If there is a way to identify the telecom provider then I can program which API to use before sending sms. I don't know this question should be posted here or not. Is there a way or api available to identify this? Thank you.

Answer 1

I didn't see ready solutions, except databases in billings (in most cases they are detailed as needed for concrete needs)

The "number one" source is ITU. Link to docs - http://www.itu.int/oth/T0202.aspx?parent=T0202 It's official source, but it isn't ready to consume database. You must spend much time to manually create database.

There are some preparsed databases, as http://en.allworldsms.com/html/phone_codes.php ... it's ugly, but it contains logos. And it's not downloadable in one file, but it's still easy to consume.

Answer 2

http://www.data24-7.com/git.php offers a free look up service if you want to use the web based panel they have. If you want API access they charge a sub-penny rate per look up. When I was using it the rate was something like .006 cents. Also the data was only about 90% correct. They may have improved it since then.

You can get more then just the provider, you can also tell if the phone number supports SMS, if it's wireless and what the greeting interrupt tone is (the number that by-passes the voice mail greeting).