What happens to my unregistered 10DLC traffic on March 31, 2023?

What's happening?

On December 14, 2022, we communicated that Bandwidth will no longer support unregistered 10DLC traffic after March 31, 2023. As we approach this target date, we would like to provide you with additional information to ensure a smooth transition for your business’ messaging needs. The US messaging ecosystem is rapidly changing, as evidenced by the March 1 announcement of AT&T increasing their surcharge rates for unregistered traffic, and we think that you can generally expect this trend to continue for 10DLC as a whole.

So what does that mean for Bandwidth customers, and what happens on March 31 when we no longer support unregistered traffic? Read on for more detail: 

Level of support

• Unregistered 10DLC traffic will be reclassified as “best effort” and won't be eligible for any SLAs. This means we won't escalate with our downstream vendors and/or carriers if the traffic gets blocked or throttled while it's unregistered.
• Registered traffic won't be affected and will continue to be supported in the same manner that it is today.

New Bandwidth customers

• We won't accept new customers who are unwilling to register traffic. There will be a grace period to register traffic while you're onboarding, but after this grace period, we won't be able to support unregistered 10DLC traffic as noted above.

Current Bandwidth customers

• The industry's goal is 100% registration. However, we understand the new requirements around registration can be taxing on your business and that flexibility is a must for onboarding new customers, testing, and understanding unique use cases. Therefore, we're committed to supporting you throughout the registration process.
• For customers that demonstrate a path towards registration, Bandwidth will work with you beyond our March 31 target. Non-registered traffic will continue to be subject to increased carrier fees.
• If you have questions about 10DLC registration, please contact your account manager to discuss this further.

10DLC industry changes

• On March 1, 2023, Bandwidth announced new fees from AT&T with regard to unregistered 10DLC traffic.

The combined efforts of customers, carriers, and aggregators will help us fight the harmful impacts that fraudulent and SPAM messages have on the messaging ecosystem. 

What do I need to do?

If you haven’t already, please start registering your 10DLC traffic. Follow our 10DLC registration best practices guide to set your business up for success and to get your campaigns up and running faster. 

Make sure you also follow the Messaging Announcements section of the Bandwidth Support Center to stay in the know about any future updates. 

Questions?

Please open a ticket with your Bandwidth Support Team or hit us up at (855) 864-7776!