⚠️ Looking for 10DLC costs? Head to our dedicated article on 10DLC Fees and Charges.

As of February 1st 2021, all long code SMS and MMS terminating to T-Mobile and AT&T have been moved to its new 10 digit long code (10 DLC) A2P service.

10DLC helps to protect customers from unwanted spam, while allowing businesses to better connect with their customers. This change will also improve deliverability because 10DLC allows for higher messaging throughput than traditional long code messaging.

Overview of what 10DLC is, and why it is happening.

What is 10 DLC?

10DLC allows businesses to send application-to-person text messages (A2P) using local long codes. Traditionally, sending A2P messages to local long codes has been discouraged according to CTIA guidelines.

Why is 10DLC being introduced?

Carriers like Verizon are introducing 10DLC to provide a sanctioned platform for businesses to send SMS and MMS messages using long codes. Their objective is to protect consumers from unwanted spam, while still allowing businesses to better connect with their customers. This change will also improve deliverability because 10DLC allows for higher messaging throughput than P2P long code traffic.

What is the timeline for 10DLC rollout?

As of May 11, 2021 some 10DLC capabilities have been rolled out by carriers. On June 1st, T-Mobile began charging 10DLC rates for both registered and non-registered 10DLC traffic. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have not yet started filtering or throttling messages, and there will be a grace period of at least 30 days.

Does this affect (person-to-person) P2P traffic?

No, the surcharges and requirements for 10DLC don’t apply to P2P traffic. Phone numbers that have both P2P and A2P traffic should be registered under 10DLC campaigns.

Will Toll-Free Numbers (TFN) be affected by 10DLC?

No, TFN is not governed under this launch, only long codes.

10DLC applies to you if your business is:

What do I need to do?

The carriers are currently offering a grace period for businesses to migrate A2P messages to 10DLC. It is important to register your 10DLC brand (business) and campaign (messaging use case) to avoid fines and blocked messages in the future. The carriers have not yet announced a date when they will begin enforcing fines and blocked messages, and we plan to communicate these changes to our customers as soon as this information is available.

10DLC requires businesses to register a brand (business) and campaigns (use cases) to increase transparency regarding who is sending what. You can now register your brand and campaign self-serve via our Mission Control Portal, and our API functionality will be ready in the coming weeks.

Can I create more than one brand?
Only one brand can be created per EIN. Any additional brands would require their own unique EIN.

Can non-US brands be added while using the portal?
Currently only US brands can be added. Support for non-US brands will be added in the future. Please contact support to request adding your brand sooner.

What happens after I submit my brand and campaign?
After you submit your brand and campaign on our portal, the information is passed on for review by The Campaign Registry (TCR - the 3rd party that administers carriers' 10DLC registration system). This is a industry-wide mandatory step for all A2P 10DLC registrations.

Are there any special campaigns that are treated differently?
These are special campaign use cases: Agents and Franchises, Carrier Exemptions, Charity, Conversational Messaging, Emergency, Political, Social, Sweepstake, Large CSP Trial. These special campaigns may require pre-approval, post-approval, and/or vetting to work appropriately. This info will be displayed when transitioning next from the “Use Case Selection” page. Only AT&T and T-Mobile can be listed on the Carrier Terms Preview page. Special campaigns may not be functional on both networks. We are still gathering information about this. Other carriers like Verizon should work even though they are not listed.

If my campaign falls under a special use case, how can I be vetted for that?

Federal political campaigns can be verified via Campaign Verify, which will provide a token when you have completed their verification process. We are currently in the process of building out our API so that we can process this token when you register your 10DLC campaign with Telnyx.

What is a common reason for a Mixed Campaign use case?
A phone number can be assigned to at most one campaign. A campaign can have many assigned phone numbers. For example, if there are two campaigns: one for appointment reminders and another for marketing. The same phone number cannot be used in both campaigns. In order to use the same phone number, a "Mixed" campaign is recommended which allows for up to 5 sub use cases. AT&T message fees may be higher for Mixed campaigns.

Each brand can have multiple campaigns. However, one number can only be attached to one campaign.

The TCR uses an algorithm to assign a Brand Score to each business that submits a 10DLC brand registration. This score is determined by specific criteria relating to your company, and carriers use this score to determine your messaging throughput, either in message segments per second (MPS) or as a daily messaging limit.

Each message segment consists of 160 standard characters, so an SMS with more characters and/or non standard characters can count as multiple message segments.

T-Mobile determines throughput as a daily messaging limit at the brand level, which means that all of your campaigns combined must share the daily limit. The tables below show the Brand Scores and corresponding throughputs in more detail.

We have added the ability to vet a 10DLC brand in our portal. We highly recommend vetting your brand, for three reasons:

Vetting should be done before creating a campaign, but there is a manual process to process campaigns that were created before May 26, 2011.

Each of your registered campaigns will be assigned a maximum MPS, based on your Brand Score as well as the type of campaign. This MPS limit is shared across all numbers attached to your campaign, and all wireless carriers. Whether you send all traffic through one number or split it up across multiple, the same MPS limit applies.

Campaigns (Use cases) fall into three categories:

Declared use cases may receive higher MPS than a Mixed or Marketing campaign with the same Brand Score.

How do I register my MMS for 10DLC?

10DLC campaigns include both SMS and MMS. While MMS throughput does not change, the carrier surcharge for MMS are higher than that of SMS. We are working to gather more information from carriers regarding MMS changes, and will communicate this when it becomes available.

Messaging Throughputs: Declared Use Cases

*Your messages toward all minor US carriers (small independent carriers comprising less than 5% of the overall mobile market share) will be based on the MPS rate you receive with each major network, with a maximum of 30 MPS.

Messaging Throughput: Mixed / Marketing Use Cases

*Your messages toward all minor US carriers (small independent carriers comprising less than 5% of the overall mobile market share) will be based on the MPS rate you receive with each major network, with a maximum of 30 MPS.

Messaging Throughput: Special

In addition to the MPS limitation, T-Mobile has a daily message limitation at the brand level. This means that the sum of all messages for all campaigns associated with a brand must be below the daily limit:

If you have any other questions, you can chat to our support team 24/7 via your Mission Control Portal.