10DLC Overview

This overview represents Bandwidth's most current understanding of mobile carrier plans to introduce additional requirements and fees for sending messages using local phone numbers intended for their respective mobile carrier subscribers. Many of these details are still being finalized, but we'll continue to update this article as we learn more or as mobile carrier requirements change.

What's happening?

Certain mobile carriers are adjusting the throughput caps they've historically enforced on local messaging for business senders, also known as application-to-person (A2P) programs, while imposing new registration requirements and paying additional fees. The throughput limits will vary but wanted messages in registered campaigns should receive better throughput than the traditional 1 message per second (MPS).

Note: Not registering A2P campaigns with The Campaign Registry doesn't bypass the mobile carriers’ additional per-message fees. 

Back to top

What do I need to know?

Verizon launched its 10DLC program in February 2020 without a pre-registration requirement for A2P senders. Verizon’s A2P program supports additional throughput to Verizon subscribers on all local phone numbers but also includes increased per-message A2P fees. Meanwhile, AT&T and T-Mobile have created plans of their own, which have new and different requirements for local number message senders.

As AT&T and T-Mobile release more information, we'll provide updates on these requirements, including the key differences between the various rules Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all seek to impose.

Back to top

Verizon

Verizon has a per-message surcharge for Outbound SMS and MMS. There are no additional charges or requirements for registering brands or traffic. Throughput limitations towards Verizon can be found below and for more about Verizon 10DLC, please see Verizon 10DLC.

Note: Throughput is measured at the TN level.

Back to top

AT&T

AT&T has created a class-based system with different fee amounts depending on the class assigned to a given campaign during the registration process. AT&T has also selected The Campaign Registry (TCR) as a third-party vendor to run their campaign registries. Bandwidth customers can choose to either register their A2P campaigns with TCR directly or work with Bandwidth to register campaign information with TCR.

AT&T's grace period for registration ended on March 1, 2022.  For the most up-to-date information on surcharges please refer to our article What are carrier surcharges and how are they applied?

Below are the classifications established by TCR and AT&T. For use case definitions and information about the 10DLC registration process, please our 10DLC brand and campaign registration overview.

Note: Special use cases will require additional vetting. The classification process and risk classification are proprietary to TCR.

*Class N requires a minimum of 10 Agents/Branches for a campaign with a maximum of 5,000 Agents/Branches per campaign. 

*Class S: Platform must obtain "double opt-in" consent from customers and Carrier Approval is required.

*Class W is limited to 1 TN per campaign. 

Back to top

T-Mobile

For the most up-to-date information on surcharges please refer to our article What are carrier surcharges and how are they applied?

Note: T-Mobile has announced that all of the following fees, except for the Grey Route and the Special Business Review Request will be enforced beginning October 1, 2021. 

T-Mobile has also announced reduced 10DLC messaging fees for approved 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, and emergency and educational campaigns, effective January 1, 2022. All campaigns approved by T-Mobile for reduced messaging fees must comply with TCPA laws, CTIA Best Practices, and T-Mobile Messaging Guidelines. See this announcement for more information.

Non-use fee:

Effective December 1, 2022, T-Mobile is implementing a $250 non-use fee to ensure campaigns provisioned in their A2P platform are active and in use. This fee will be charged at the campaign level for any campaigns that do not have at least one telephone number added to them in a rolling two-month (60-day) window and could possibly be recurring. See this announcement for more information.

Non-recurring fees: 

• T-Mobile NNID Registration: A $2,000 one-time fee for customers who choose to utilize a custom NNID. This doesn't apply to most Bandwidth customers.
• Special Business Review Request: Currently there is a $500 per brand fee, to process these SBRs. In the future, T-Mobile has advised there will be a $5,000 one-time fee for when a customer has an edge use case, such as the use of proxy numbers for business or rideshare, or the brand needs a higher daily throughput than assigned by T-Mobile. Please see the Special Business Review section below for more information. A minimum 30-day notice will be communicated prior to enforcing this fee. 

Non-compliance fees for violation of practices spelled out in the T-Mobile Code of Conduct:

• Text Enablement: A $10,000 pass-through fee if T-Mobile receives a complaint where you or your message sender text-enables a 10-digit NANP telephone number and sends messages prior to the verification of message sender ownership and/or letter of authorization.
• Grey Route: A $10 fee per message if A2P messages are sent over P2P routes. This fee is waived until further notice.
• 10DLC Long Code Messaging Program Evasion: A $1,000 pass-through fee if a program is found to be using techniques such as snowshoeing, dynamic routing, or unauthorized number replacement.
• Content Violation: A $10,000 pass-through fee for each unique instance of the third or any subsequent notification of content violating the T-Mobile Code of Conduct involving the same content provider. This includes SHAFT (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco) violations, spam, phishing, and messaging that meets the Severity 0 violation threshold per the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook.

T-Mobile Daily Brand Limits

Daily Bucket Maximums include T-Mobile, Sprint, and their MVNOs. The Daily Bucket Maximum is shared between all campaigns under a brand (per EIN), and also between SMS and MMS for a brand. 

Note: If you have a brand with campaigns across several providers, all campaigns under that brand will share the Daily Bucket Maximum, even if they're with different providers. The daily brand cap resets at midnight PST.

Back to top

US Cellular

US Cellular is charging per-message surcharges where can be found here.

Note: As of June 1, 2021, US Cellular is also charging per message surcharges on P2P traffic. For more information, please see US Cellular P2P surcharges.

Back to top

Terms and definitions

Application-to-person (A2P): As defined by the CTIA, all commercial or business messaging is now considered A2P traffic, whereas person-to-person (P2P) is reserved for mobile end user exchange only, barring exemptions. 

10 Digit Long Code (10DLC): The traditional long code phone number that can be utilized for both voice and messaging. Historically, it's been used for P2P communication but in the past few years, more businesses have begun to utilize these numbers to send messages.

The Campaign Registry (TCR): The newly conceived third-party central hub designated by AT&T and T-Mobile for registering A2P 10DLC messaging campaigns. The Campaign Registry was chosen by AT&T and T-Mobile to register application-to-person (A2P) text messaging campaigns.

Content Provider: The actual brand/entity that is crafting the message content payload to the subscriber.

Direct Connect Aggregator (DCA): A company that has a direct connection to a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) Gateway and transmits messages on behalf of its customers or “content providers”. Bandwidth is an example of a DCA.

Campaign Service Provider (CSP): The primary user of TCR. A CSP works with multiple brands to create and launch SMS messaging campaigns. A customer supporting a large number of different brands may find it easier to work directly with TCR. Customers with fewer brands may want to use Bandwidth as their CSP.  

Brand: The company or entity initiating messages to the consumer.

Campaign: A collection of information used to identify the use case and CTIA compliance for carrier evaluation. A campaign requires details such as message examples and the industry vertical.

Class (AT&T Only): There are approximately 15 different classes that may be assigned to a campaign by TCR based on a proprietary system of evaluation established by AT&T. Class assignment is based on elements such as brand identity verification, industry, and use case/campaign type. The class assignment will determine the campaign throughput and per-message surcharge for the campaign. Standard use cases will receive a class assignment immediately upon submission of the campaign (e.g., marketing, customer alerts, account notifications), while special use cases will require external vetting after submission but prior to activation (e.g., political, non-profit).

Reseller: According to TCR, a reseller is a company that supports multiple brands and resells the services of the DCA. 

Back to top

Additional resources

For more information about 10DLC, check out our other support articles:

• 10DLC FAQ
• AT&T 10DLC
• T-Mobile 10DLC
• Verizon 10DLC
• Costs associated with 10DLC
• 10DLC brand and campaign registration overview
• 10DLC registration best practices
• 10DLC vetting process
• 10DLC vetting tips and tricks
• What are carrier surcharges and how are they applied?