Carrier of a Cameroonian number

How the carrier is determined

A Cameroonian mobile number has nine digits and starts with 6. The carrier is written in the digits that follow: the ART allocates ranges by prefix, and that plan is what the API uses to route a message and to price it.

Reading the first three digits is not enough. The 654 and 688 ranges are split into five- and six-digit sub-ranges, some of which are allocated to nobody: 65460 is MTN, 65461 is not; 688960 is Orange, 688965 is not. That is why resolution always keeps the longest prefix covering the number.

What the tool does not tell you: it reads an allocated range, not a subscriber. It has no way of knowing whether the line is active, and a number ported to another carrier would still show under its original range. Only the response of a real send states the carrier that was finally used.

The full numbering plan

All 58 rules as the API applies them. The price shown is the price of one segment.

Both the rules and the prices can be changed by the service administrators; the pricing page always shows the rates in force.

An unallocated prefix is not an error

When no rule covers the number, the API does not reject it: the message goes out through the default route, recorded under the DEFAULT carrier and billed XAF 10 per segment. Worth knowing before importing a contact file: an unknown prefix costs more, it breaks nothing.

An invalid number is a different matter and is rejected before any debit: fewer than nine digits, not starting with 6, or a landline. The API then answers 400 INVALID_NUMBER.

The same answer from the API

No endpoint exists for carrier lookup alone: the carrier comes back with the send itself, in the operator field of the response.

curl -X POST 'https://api.sms.gworldship.com/v1/sms' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer gsk_votre_cle_api' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"to":"+237690000000","text":"Your code is 12345"}'

{
  "messageId": "8f1c0b2e-4a77-4f1a-9d3e-2b5c7a0e1f44",
  "to": "+237690000000",
  "operator": "ORANGE",
  "segments": 1,
  "priceXaf": 5,
  "status": "QUEUED",
  "balanceAfterXaf": 9995,
  "createdAt": "2026-09-12T08:24:31Z"
}

Prices, on the other hand, need no authentication:

curl 'https://api.sms.gworldship.com/v1/pricing'

[{"operator":"CAMTEL","priceXaf":7},
 {"operator":"DEFAULT","priceXaf":10},
 {"operator":"MTN","priceXaf":5},
 {"operator":"NEXTTEL","priceXaf":7},
 {"operator":"ORANGE","priceXaf":5}]

Frequently asked questions