1ODLC Messaging Overview, TCR Fees and Non-Compliance Fines

This document serves as a guide to adhere to A2P / 1ODLC compliance on the Telogix network. As we are notified of coming changes by our upstream message service providers, this guide will be updated appropriately.

Telogix will also send update notifications to partners, including links to this document and others for relevant changes.

General Overview

The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), in conjunction with wireless service providers, adopted "Messaging Principles and Best Practices" as an industry standard to Protect Consumers from Unwanted Messages, particularly from high-volume messaging traffic. With this intent in mind, the industry made a distinction in the handling of "consumer" Person to Person (P2P) and "Non-Consumer" Application to Person (A2P) messages via 10 Digit Long Code (10DLC).

 A business line with a local area code (1O Digit Long Code) can now be considered a carrier-sanctioned messaging channel to communicate with consumers, thereby classifying business lines as A2P. P2P consumer message traffic is of an individual person who subscribes to specific wireless messaging services or messaging applications. Therefore, all messaging traffic on Telogix is considered A2P.

 Note: The carrier's business rules for A2P message handling are changing frequently. Please be on the look out for updates in the near future.

Telogix A2P/1ODLC Service Requirements

All messaging traffic originating from Telogix to its upstream providers is considered A2P and must comply with A2P/1ODLC carrier policies. This includes all messaging applications within the Telogix portfolio.

For Verizon, they have distinct routing in place between P2P and A2P traffic. This allows Verizon to monitor and filter bad actors on their A2P routes. This has been in effect since January of 2020, including Verizon A2P traffic surcharges.

For AT&T & T-Mobile, including any of their subsidiaries (e.g Cricket Wireless, MetroPCS, etc.), A2P/1ODLC compliance means registering the message sender's Brand (logo) and Campaign (use case) with the "The Campaign Registry" (TCR).

TCR is the organization that will assess the trust score assigned to each brand and pass that information along to the carriers.

Once a business is registered, messaging throughput is not fixed for every campaign. Carriers determine the throughput for a campaign by doing a thorough assessment of your business and use case collected by TCR.

Key assessment areas include: 

Brand Identity Verification: TCR validates the EIN, Legal Company Name, and Legal Company Address with third-party independent sources and confirms the existence of the Brand with a verification "Status" (Verified/Unverified). Being a "Verified" Brand is a requirement to message on 10DLC, and Identity Verification is a crucial step for each registered Brand. We suggest paying close attention in entering correct and up-to-date information to allow the Brand to be swiftly verified.

• Class/Tier Assignment: Upon Brand verification, TCR will assign available Classes (AT&T) or Tiers (T-Mobile) according to whether or not a verified Brand is part of the Russell 3000 list. Verified Brands who are not part of the Russell 3000 list can improve their Class/Tier assignment through vetting.

TCR provides the ability for "Vetting" of brands to gain access to special use cases or improve quality of service. The current setup cost for vetting a Brand is $50.00

•  Brand and campaign approvals can be immediate or take three to four business days, depending on the campaign use case. We will notify Customers via email when a brand has been approved.

Note: You can have multiple Telephone Numbers (TN's) associated with one Campaign, however, you cannot have multiple Campaigns associated with a TN. Telogix will associate each Campaign ID in our messaging gateway with a TN(s) at your direction. Thereafter, the Campaign ID will be included in every message data record sent to the receiving carrier.

A2P/1ODLC Non-Compliance Fines

Carriers are imposing serious fines, and we must all be responsible to avoid these penalties.

For this reason, Telogix will block any outgoing messages not associated with a valid Campaign ID to eliminate the possibility of costly fines.

Note: This will not stop a bad actor operating under an approved Brand and Campaign for "Content Violation." Any Resellers providing services to those companies will be responsible for Non-Compliance fees.

T-Mobile's New Non-Compliance Fees for Code of Conduct Violations.

• Text Enablement: $10,000

This pass-through fee applies 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 verification of message sender ownership.

• 10DLC Long Code Messaging Program Evasion: $1,000

The pass-through fee will apply per-incident if a program is found to use evasion techniques such as snowshoeing, unauthorized number replacement, and dynamic routing.

• Content Violation: $10,000

T-Mobile may charge this pass-through fee for each unique instance of the third or any subsequent notification of a content violation involving the same content provider. Defined as sending messages in violation of the rules in the code of conduct, and are usually SHAFT violations (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms or tobacco) but also includes spam or phishing, or messaging which meets the threshold of a severity '0' violation per the CTIA shortcode monitoring handbook.

Current Telogix A2P 10DLC Fee Schedule

There are two categories of fees associated with A2P 10DLC: registration fees, and per-message carrier fees. Both types of fees are charged by carriers as part of the A2P 10DLC system, and are passed through by Telogix to our customers with no added cost.

Registration fees are applied when registering your US A2P Brand and your A2P Use Case, the moment they are registered with TCR.

Carrier fees are charged by carriers for A2P 10DLC messages sent to users on their networks. These fees are included in Telogix standard US Messaging pricing. In general, the fees are applied for each outbound SMS segment or MMS message. T-Mobile (including Sprint) also applies fees to inbound SMS and MMS.

Please see below for a full breakdown of the fees associated with A2P 10DLC.

Registration Fees

• Brand Registration

  US A2P Sole Proprietor Brand registration fee: $4 one-time registration fee (no Secondary Vetting for A2P 10DLC). 

  US A2P Low Volume Standard Brand registration fee: $4 one-time registration fee (no Secondary Vetting for A2P 10DLC).

  US A2P Standard Brand registration fee: $44 one-time registration fee (includes Secondary Vetting for A2P 10DLC).

  • Note: Brand creation fee is charged at the time of creation with TCR and your Brand may still be in an unverified state.
    
    

  • If you’re an individual or small business without a Tax ID (EIN), please contact Telogix porting department for further instructions.

    •  If you have a Tax ID (EIN) and low traffic requirement (less than 6,000 messages per day), Low Volume Standard Brands can be used for mixed messaging campaigns with multiple use cases, multiple numbers per campaign, and higher throughput than Sole Prop.

    • If you have a Tax ID (EIN) and higher traffic requirement (more than 6,000 messages per day), Standard Brands can be used for multiple use cases, multiple numbers per campaign, and higher throughput.

  
  

• Campaign Registration

  US A2P Campaign use case registration fee: $15 one-time registration fee at the time of vetting.

  US A2P Recurring Monthly Campaign registration fees:

  Campaign use case typeCost**Sole Prop (Starter) $2/month | Standard $10/month | Low-volume* mixed use case $1.50/month | Special: Charity / 501(c)(3) Nonprofit$3/month | Special: Emergency Services $5/month

  
  

  • Low Volume Mixed use cases support up to 2,000 SMS segments and MMS per day toward T-Mobile and are given a lower message throughput (MPS) than other use cases, regardless of Trust Score. 

  • The Campaign use case registration fee is billed at time of approval, then as a renewal fee for the same amount each month, unless the Campaign is deactivated/deleted.

Brand and Trust Score Appeal Fees

Brand unverified $10 appeal fee | Appeal fails $40 secondary vetting fee | Trust Score appeal $10 appeal fee | Trust Score appeal $40 secondary vetting fee

Carrier Fees

AT&T Carrier Fees

Effective June 1, 2023, fees for all long code messages to AT&T:

• $0.002 per registered outbound SMS message segment 

• $0.0035 per registered outbound MMS message 

• $0.01 per unregistered outbound SMS message segment 

• $0.015 per unregistered outbound MMS message 

T-Mobile Carrier Fees (including Sprint)

Effective August 1, 2023, fees for all long code messages to T-Mobile/Sprint:

• $0.003 per registered outbound/inbound SMS message segment

• $0.01 per registered outbound/inbound MMS message

• $0.006 per unregistered outbound/inbound SMS message segment

• $0.015 per unregistered outbound/inbound MMS message

T-Mobile acquired the Sprint network in 2020. Some devices still appear as "Sprint" in a Lookup. Messages sent to these users will have the same fees as other messages to T-Mobile.

Verizon Wireless Carrier Fees

Verizon introduced A2P 10DLC fees in January 2019 (for details, see here). In September 2022, Verizon increased these fees. Following other U.S. carriers raising fees for unregistered messages to encourage 10DLC registration, Verizon will increase its per-message rate on unregistered traffic, effective July 1, 2023.

Effective July 1, 2023, fees for all long code messages to Verizon:

• $0.003 per registered outbound/inbound SMS message segment 

• $0.005 per registered outbound/inbound MMS message

• $0.01 per unregistered outbound/inbound SMS message segment

• $0.005 per unregistered outbound/inbound MMS message