A 10-digit long code (10DLC) is the new industry-led long code solution for North American application-to-person (A2P) business messaging.
Over the past year or so, wireless carriers such as T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon have changed the way in which SMS/MMS is handled in an attempt to combat SPAM in the telecom industry. These changes are referred to as A2P 10DLC SMS or Application-to-person Ten Digit Long Code (A2P). These changes, if nothing else, have done 2 things. It has made the process of delivering SMS messages to consumers more complicated, and because of this, has also increased the cost to deliver SMS to consumers. These changes are intended to reduce the amount of spam that is received by consumers. In concept, this is a great idea. The execution of the changes and associated costs is another story.
The process in which carriers have handled this has been constantly changing on a month-to-month basis. Information that was accurate one month, was obsolete the next month. This has been happening behind the scenes for the past year or so. Over the past few months, Intulse has been paying these fees and surcharges for our clients to make things easier. Finally, the three carriers listed above have come to a decision regarding their fees, etc that will be charged to other carriers like Intulse. Since we now have clarity on what fees are being charged, starting in June 2022, we will be passing these surcharges on to our clients.
The basics of A2P / 10DLC:
The costs to send and receive an SMS or MMS are increasing. This is because the Mobile Network Carriers have begun adding surcharges to each SMS sent or received onto their networks. These surcharges range from $0.002 per SMS all the way up $0.10. Up until now, Intulse has not charged a per message fee for sending/receiving SMS/MMS Message. Intulse is charged by carriers for every message that is sent/received from a number. Intulse has simply been absorbing this cost, as we bundle this with your monthly rates. Good news! We have decided to keep this policy in place for our clients. We are still going to include messaging fees in the monthly service charges. However, what will be changing is that we will now be passing along these new surcharges from the mobile carriers. These surcharges will be billed monthly. For the most up-to-date information on these fees please see our Text Messaging Fees article.
Registering your business and associated phone numbers with the "Campaign Registry" is currently the best way to minimize the chances of your numbers/messages being marked as SPAM. There are many registration fees that vary by wireless carrier. Each carrier charges different fees, and it gets rather complicated. To keep things as simple as possible, you can pay a one time registration fee, and a monthly registration fee with Intulse. Exact fees can be found in the Intulse Account Center in the Billing area.
It is in your best interest to register a campaign. If you choose not not register, your messages are almost guaranteed to be blocked. Registering a campaign/number will do 2 important things:
As soon as possible. In recent months, carriers have become more stringent with their requirements. They have made it clear that if you choose not to register, your messages are almost guaranteed to be blocked.
Unregistered phone numbers will have a higher risk of being blocked for SPAM by carriers. If you choose not to register, your messages will most likely be blocked.
Yes, these changes affect ALL carriers and unfortunately, no carrier is exempt from this.