Certification

Introduction to 10DLC

U.S. carriers are moving away from allowing unsanctioned long codes and have launched 10DLC as a sanctioned A2P commercial-type messaging service for standard (non-toll-free) long codes. In order to create this sanctioned channel, carriers must know who is sending messages and what messaging is being sent. This sanctioned service requires all brands sending A2P content to be registered through The Campaign Registry (TCR). The carrier objective is to protect consumers from unwanted spam while still allowing verified brands to send commercial traffic.

The Campaign Registry (TCR) provides information about the registered brands to the carriers. Because messages are “authorized”, carriers can provide a more reliable messaging service for ten-digit long codes who are registered and adhere to carrier codes of conduct.

Check out our 10DLC Frequently Asked Questions.

Getting Registered

Aerialink provides a registration portal for reseller customers to register downstream customer brands and their campaigns. A user guide for this portal can be found here on the docs site. We are integrated with TCR platform so that you don’t have to contract directly with TCR, although Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) can choose to contract directly with TCR for registrations if desired, and select Aerialink as their connectivity partner for message delivery and text enablement.

All brands, campaigns and associated long codes looking to send A2P traffic via long code must be registered. If you are an ISV, all of your downstream customers must be registered. Once a brand is “verified” by TCR, they are allotted the carrier-default terms for throughput and the daily outbound message maximum which differ by carrier (see T-Mobile and AT&T thresholds.)

Read the article below about 10DLC Registration First Steps to get started.

Campaign Attributes

For registration purposes, messaging traffic is categorized by pre-defined message use case(s) and requires that all brands and campaigns support specific attributes:

SUBSCRIBER OPT-IN - the campaign is collecting and processing consumer opt-ins
SUBSCRIBER OPT-OUT -the campaign is collecting and processing consumer opt-outs and permits use of the “STOP” keyword to opt out.
SUBSCRIBER HELP - the campaign has implemented a message reply for the “HELP” keyword which provides customers sender contact information and opt-out instructions.

Associated Fees

There are new industry pass-through fees associated with this 10DLC service, from per message inbound and outbound carrier surcharges, to carrier activation and non-compliance fees, to The Campaign Registry one-time fees, monthly registration fees, and 3rd Party Vetting fees.

Privacy Policy Requirements

A brand’s privacy policy must be available for review as it will be scrutinized as part of the 10DLC Hub’s Manual Review, toll-free verification or short code certification.

10DLC Campaigns Requiring Privacy Policy

Compliant Privacy Policies must be in place for campaigns involving one or more of the following characteristics:

Political
Marketing
Real Estate/Home Investment
Web-based opt-in
High-Risk Financial Services (loans, mortgages, financing)
Number pools
Age-gated content

Required Specifications

The CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices section 5.2.1 offers guidance on what is necessary in a good privacy policy. The Privacy Policy must:

Be conspicuously displayed, clear, and easy to understand.
Specify that an end-user’s personal information (“personal information,” “Personally Identifiable Information,” “PII”) will not be shared or sold to third parties for marketing purposes.
State what information is shared and in what circumstances.

Note that there are some circumstances in which information sharing is acceptable and/or necessary, such as:

Necessary to conduct business and/or provide the requisite service.
Merge/sale of the business
Adhering to legal requirements

Conspicuous & Clear

As mentioned above, privacy policies must be conspicuously displayed and easily accessed by the consumer (e.g. through clearly labeled links). They must also clearly describes how the message sender may collect, use and share information from consumers. A link to any relevant privacy policies must be provided in conjunction with the call-to-action.

Exceptions

There may be exceptions for small businesses with fewer than fifty employees, or non-profits (depending on size). Exceptions will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

10DLC Registration

Step 1 - Create a Brand

A brand is a business or individual behind the campaign and the entity responsible for the messaging content in a campaign. As your Campaign Service Provider, Aerialink submits your brand and campaign details to the 10DLC Registry. The Registry will perform verifications of every brand registered.

Here is a short list of typical brand information required.

Company’s legal name
Brand URLs
Contact information
Tax ID/ Employee ID Number (EIN)

Refer to the instructions in our user guide for registering DBAs.

Note that as part of the brand verification process, Russell 3000 enterprises will be placed in the highest Mobile Network Operator tiers available to standard campaigns for throughput and daily send limits.

Step 2 - Create Campaigns

How are you using long codes for messaging currently? Categorize your message content into campaigns based on the use cases outlined below. Here is a preview of some of the information required to register each campaign:

Use case
Campaign description
Sample message
Weblinks in your message content
Opt-in and opt-out information
10-digit number for message delivery

Some special campaign use-cases require the brand to be vetted by a participating vetting provider.

Note: A single brand cannot have more than fifty campaigns. Furthermore, the creation of multiple campaigns for the purpose of spreading throughput and message limitation capabilities is a practice known as “snowshoeing” and is prohibited.

Step 3 - Add Long Codes

Note: a single number cannot be associated with more than one campaign.
It is, however, possible for a single campaign to be associated with more than one number. Carriers generally expect that standard campaigns will utilize only one long code for sending and receiving messages. However, there can be exceptions. For instance, a company with multiple locations, each with a different text-enabled number sharing the same customer care use case could potentially qualify for an exception. We can request that the carrier reviews the special use case.

Step 4 - Submit for Registration

Submit your campaign for registration via the Aerialink 10DLC portal or directly contract with TCR. When successfully registered, each campaign will be assigned a campaign ID, which is used to tag all long codes in that campaign.

Please be sure to stay aware of any and all associated fees prior to registering.

Registering Through TCR

As mentioned, customers have the ability to register directly with TCR. Customers who do this must follow a few key steps:

Open a ticket with our Help Desk Portal and include your CSP_ID. We will put this in our database so we can programmatically accept your campaigns (this is referred to as a “campaign share event”).
In the TCR portal, choose Aerialink in the “Elect Connectivity Partner” field at the bottom of the campaign form.
Once the campaign has been registered, provide your support ticket through our Help Desk Portal with the list of numbers you would like added to your campaign. Be sure to include the campaignID. Qualified resellers may use our Provisioning API to perform this step.
Contact TCR for support regarding brand registrations, brand vetting and campaign submissions. Contact Aerialink for support regarding number publishing and traffic.

Customers contracting with TCR directly for registrations will be invoiced to you by TCR for the registration only. Other relevant carrier passthrough fees such as T-Mobile Campaign Activation Fee, Number Pool Fees, non-compliance fees, et cetera will be invoiced through Aerialink.

Note: Aerialink does not support the Sole Proprietor or Platform Free Trial use cases. These will be auto-declined when submitted to us.

Step 5 - Await 10DLC Hub Manual Review

Once the campaign is submitted, it is sent to the 10DLC hub for manual review prior to being submitted to TCR for vetting. This phase may take one or more days, after which campaigns will receive one of three statuses from the hub: Approved, Conditionally Approved, or Declined.

More information regarding the manual review process and expectations is provided in the following article.

10DLC Hub Manual Review Guide

10DLC Campaign Vetting Delays: The 10DLC delivery hub vetting team approves 10DLC campaigns before they are fully processed at the Campaign Registry. This is a manual process which lengthens the campaign registration timeline. To avoid delays caused by campaign rejection and remediation iterations, carefully read through the remediation steps below prior to submitting a campaign.

Rejection Codes and Remediations

To assist in identifying rejection reasons and next steps, here are the most common rejection reasons, their rejection codes and the remediation steps required to resolve them.

Rejection Reason	Rejection Code	Remediation Required
“Campaign Attributes do not match website and/or sample message content.”	601	Attributes such as “Embedded URL” must be selected if URLs will be used. Note: When updates are required to any campaign attributes (the six checkboxes in the campaign form), a new campaign submission is required, as TCR does not allow those fields to be updated on an existing campaign.
“Inaccurate Registration. Inconsistency between sample message and use-case.”	602	Ensure sample messages demonstrate the selected use case for the campaign. (e.g., If the use case selected is OTP/2FA, the sample messages should demonstrate password retrieval of a one-time code, not a different use case such as customer care or marketing.)
“Inaccurate Registration. Inconsistency between website, sample messages or incomplete sample messages.”	603	Ensure the brand name, the website, the use case, the sample messages and any other materials all match, and that sample messages are complete and demonstrate the use case described in the campaign description.
“Prohibited Content; Cannabis”	701	The use case is prohibited for cannabis-related content. No remediation is available.
“Prohibited Content; Guns/Ammo/Fireworks”	702	The use case is prohibited for content related to firearms, ammunition, fireworks or other explosives. No remediation is available.
“Prohibited Content; Explicit sexual”	703	The use case is prohibited for sexually explicit content. No remediation is available.
“Prohibited Content; Gambling”	704	The use case is prohibited for content related to gambling. No remediation is available.
“Prohibited Content; Hate”	705	The use case is prohibited for hateful content. No remediation is available
“Prohibited Content; Alcohol”	706	The use case is prohibited for alcohol-related content without adequate age gating. Implement an age gate to ensure minors cannot subscribe to receive this content.
“Prohibited Content; Tobacco/Vape”	707	This use case is prohibited for tobacco-and/or-vape-related content without adequate age gating. Implement an age gate to ensure minors cannot subscribe to receive this content.
“Lead Gen/Affiliate Marketing prohibited; other”	708	This use case is prohibited for lead gen/affiliate marketing content. No remediation is available. If you believe this is a misunderstanding of the use case, ensure no mention of third-party or affiliate information sharing is mentioned on the website.
“Lead Gen/Affiliate Marketing prohibited; high risk financial services.”	709	The use case is prohibited for lead gen/affiliate marketing or high risk financial services. No remediation is available. If you believe this is a misunderstanding of the use case, ensure no mention of third-party or affiliate information sharing is mentioned on the website.
“Reseller/Non-compliant KYC”	710	The “brand” registered for 10DLC must be the campaign’s content provider and cannot be the agency or software provider behind the brand.
“Repeated use of same EIN for multiple different brands”	711	Ensure that the EIN provided is aligned with the end-brand for the campaign and is not the EIN of a reseller or service provider.
“Misleading Registration. Based on details submitted, Campaign appears to be Direct Lending Arrangement but appropriate Content Attribute was not selected.”	712	Ensure all appropriate campaign content attributes are selected.
“Appears to be large company or company that would have an official email domain. Check for fraud, use official / working email domain.”	713	Ensure the email addresses submitted with the campaign are official company email addresses with company domains and not personal accounts.
“Invalid Opt-In. Permission to text users via Court Order does not meet carrier code of conduct.”	714	Note that legal standards of consent compliance do not necessarily constitute appropriate levels of consent in the perspective of the mobile carriers, who maintain the right to deny traffic that does not meet their codes of conduct. Refer to carrier standards.
“Sole Proprietor. Not yet authorized.”	802	Sole Proprietors are not supported. No remediation is available.”
“Opt-in language required on website if used to collect mobile numbers.”	803	If a website is used to obtain consent, include the specific URL for the web consent page within the CTA field in the campaign form. If consent is not obtained through a website, include the statement, “website is not used to obtain opt-in.”
“Unable to verify, need website/working website or complete CTA information if opt-in occurs outside of website.”	804	Website must be functional. If a website is not applicable, thorough and complete materials demonstrating the CTA must be provided, such as screenshots, mockups, paper forms, IVR scripts. If a website is used to obtain consent, include the specific URL for the web consent page within the CTA field in the campaign form. If consent is not obtained through a website, include the statement, “website is not used to obtain opt-in.”
“Call-to-Action indicates in-person/offline consent, but website has a required phone number field.”	805	If the phone number field on the website’s form is not used to consent to SMS, include the statement, “website is not used to obtain opt-in.”

General Recommendations

To reduce the likelihood for rejection during the manual review, please avoid any of the following common errors:

Brand name inconsistent between campaign form and other materials such as website or sample messages.
Email address inconsistent between campaign form and other materials such as website or sample messages.
Phone number inconsistent across materials such as website and sample messages.
Use case prohibited (e.g. insurance reseller, cannabis/CBD, sole proprietor, sexual content).
Use case suspicious (e.g. real estate).
Sample messages generic, vague or otherwise inadequately descriptive of use case.
Sample messages not specific to associated brand.
Sample messages deceptive or otherwise inaccurate representation of brand or use case.
HELP messages must contain opt-out language.
Fraudulent or inauthentic representation of brand or use case.
Loan attribute not checked for loan use case.
Website missing from campaign form.*
Website under construction or otherwise unavailable for vetting.*
Website appears illegitimate or is unclear in purpose or relationship to the brand or use case.*
Website is a social networking page (e.g. Craigslist, Facebook, LinkedIn) rather than a dedicated domain.*
Website’s URL is missing from CTA field.*
Website provided, but CTA does not indicate whether website is used to obtain consent.
Website mentions sharing information with third parties or affiliates.
Company name not found in Google search.
Email address has a personal use domain (e.g. @aol.com, @gmail.com, @hotmail.com, @msn.com, @yahoo.com).
Unable to verify email address.

* Not all use cases require a website. However, it is good to include them in the event that your use case does require it.

10DLC Use Cases

The Campaign Registry requires that use case is declared at the beginning of the campaign registration process. Pre-defined Standard Use Cases are immediately available for all qualified, registered brands. Special Use Cases are sensitive or critical in nature and may require third-party vetting or pre/post-registration approval by MNOs. Requirements may vary according to each MNO. Certain details of special use cases are still being finalized by the carrier ecosystem.

Note that use cases below with a value greater than zero indicated in the “MIN SUB-USECASES” column must include the indicated minimum number of sub-usecases at the time of submission. Use cases which do not indicate a value cannot include sub-usecases. Use cases which indicate a value of zero may include sub-usecases if desired. The maximum number of sub-usecases which can be included with one campaign use case is five. Use cases marked with a “YES” as a “VALID SUB-USECASE” may be used as a sub-usecase for other campaigns.

USE CASE	DESCRIPTION	MIN SUB-USECASES	VALID SUB-USECASE
2FA	Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), One-Time Password (OTP), Password reset	-	YES
Account Notification	Reminders, alerts and notifications	-	YES
Customer Care	All customer care communication including management and support	-	YES
Delivery Notification	Status of delivery of a product or service	-	YES
Fraud Alert	Fraud alert notifications	-	YES
Higher Education	Colleges/universities and school districts outside of free-to-end-user (FTEU) messaging	-	YES
Low-Volume Mixed	Combination use cases with low throughput such as test or demo accounts	1	NO
Marketing	Marketing/promotional	-	YES
Mixed	Mixed messaging for specific consumer service industry	2	NO
Polling and Voting	Polling and voting communications	-	YES
PSA	Public Service Announcement raising audience awareness about an important issue	-	YES
Security Alert	Notification of compromised system security	-	YES
Agents & Franchises**	For brands with multiple agents, franchises or offices in the same vertical but requiring individual localized numbers per agent/location/office. Maximum 5,000 numbers per campaign (if granted Number Pool approval)	0	NO
Carrier Exemptions*	Carrier-exempted campaigns	1	NO
Charity	Includes 5013C Charities. Does not include religious organizations. All 501(c) nonprofits should register their brands and campaigns ASAP to avoid the T-Mobile one-time $50 fee on all new A2P Campaign Use Case registrations beginning December 1st.	0	NO
Conversational (“Proxy”)*	Peer-to-peer app-based group messaging with proxy-pooled numbers or supporting personalized services and non-exposure of personal numbers for enterprise or A2P communications	0	NO
Emergency*	Support public safety/health during natural disasters, armed conflicts, pandemics and other national/regional emergencies	-	NO
Political	Part of organized effort to influence decision making of specific group (including election campaign use cases). Available only to registered 501(c)(4/5/6) and 527 political organizations with a Campaign Verify token. Register at www.campaignverify.org and select ‘Import Vetting’ on the Brand Details page to unlock the Political Use Case	0	NO
Social**	Communication between public figures/influencers and their communities. Examples include: YouTube Influencers’ alerts or Celebrity alerts.	0	NO
Sweepstakes*	Sweepstakes and giveaways	-	NO
Trial**	Large brand free trial offers with strict controls and MNO audit rights	1	NO

* Post-registration approval by MNO required.
** Available to MNO pre-approved resellers only.

Agents & Franchises

The Agents & Franchises special use case applies the carrier limitations listed in the following article at the per-number level instead of at the campaign level as it would with all other use cases. This is ideal for call centers and agencies assigning individual 10DLC numbers to each agent, enabling the agents to use the numbers freely without the risk of one or more agents maxing out limitations for the entire campaign. The Agents & Franchises use case is an ideal applicant for a T-Mobile Number Pool submission, as it would enable the campaign to also contain more than 49 numbers at a time.

Group Messaging

Depending on a use case’s specific implementation, group messaging may utilize phone numbers not assigned to a unique individual, with characteristics inconsistent with consumer (P2P) messaging. In these cases, the service may be treated as an A2P service and require the numbers to be registered. It is recommended that group messaging services:

Have strong anti-abuse controls and mechanisms appropriate for systems with potentially large message distribution.
Support the ability of any member to opt out of the group at any time.
Employ mechanisms to prevent recursive and/or cyclical messaging involving more than one group (in which one group is a member of another group).

Sole Proprietor and Platform Free Trial

Aerialink does not support sole proprietor or platform free trial use cases at this time. Our focus is on supporting enterprise, ISVs and resellers who also support messaging for enterprise. Reseller customers are responsible for managing MNOs’ requirements for outbound daily message caps (at the brand level) and the throttling of throughput (at the campaign level) on behalf of their downstream customers.

About Sole Proprietor (SP)

“Sole Proprietor” is a 10DLC business type and campaign use case and is limited to entities without an EIN/Tax ID. In other words, an individual with low volume sending. It is limited to one campaign and five (5) numbers.

Aerialink reseller customers supporting SP campaigns must:

Ensure SP customers do not send more than their carrier-mandated daily outbound and per-minute message limits.
Throttle traffic as-needed to comply with MNO requirements.
Send monthly reports to Aerialink with data on SP usage toward T-Mobile, including daily message counts from each SP campaign.
Execute a separate agreement with the SP entity.

Violations of the above principles may lead to suspension or disabling of the SP traffic, or of the reseller or Campaign Service Provider accounts per MNO directives.

About Platform Free Trial (PFT)

“PFT” use cases are available for 10DLC only for non-paying, time-limited trial customers of a reseller or CSP, where the reseller or CSP restricts the sending of messages to one (1) opted-in number per trial participant and caps the message volume at the carrier-mandated daily limit.

Aerialink reseller customers supporting PFT campaigns must:

Provide a single dedicated sending number to each PFT campaign.
Register each PFT campaign individually for 10DLC. This includes use cases involving Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).
List themselves (the reseller) as the brand in 10DLC for the purposes of PFT campaigns and identify the ISV in the TCR reseller attribute (if ISV is applicable).
Execute a separate agreement with the PFT entity.

10DLC Non-Profit & Government Brands

There are some key things to keep in mind when registering a 10DLC brand as a non-profit or government entity.

Charity / Non-Profit

When a brand’s legal entity type is “Charity / Non-Profit,” TCR will automatically perform vetting to confirm the specific non-profit tax status of your organization (e.g. 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4)). The specific 501c status will have an impact on which campaign use cases your non-profit will quality for.

501(c)(3) non-profits qualify for the Charity/501(c)(3) special use case, which provides substantial discounts on A2P carrier fees.
• 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5), and 501(c)(6) non-profits qualify for the Political special use case, which provides increased messaging throughput for advocacy-related mssaging.

Once a brand has been registered as a non-profit and its status is “Verified,” you can move on to registering its campaigns and their use cases.

501(c)(3)

Verified 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations can access reserved use cases - “Emergency” and “Charity / 501(c)(3).” In the future, the Charity use case will offer discounts on carrier fees associated with registered 10DLC messaging (date TBA). Most 501(c)(3) brands should register with the Charity use case, unless the “emergency” use case applies. “Emergency” use cases are defined as notification services designed to support public safety/health during natural disasters, armed conflicts, pandemics and other national or regional emergencies. Additional post-approval by carriers is required for the Emergency use case.

Government Agencies

Government agencies are eligible for increased messaging throughput on the T-Mobile network, regardless of their campaign use case. Verified Government brands will receive unlimited daily message caps on T-Mobile. Throughput on AT&T will be determined based on the campaign use case.

Providing accurate information about your agency and selecting Government as the company type during brand registration will trigger automatic vetting of your organization. If confirmed by TCR as a Government entity, the increased throughput will be applied.

Government agencies can begin to register with all Standard Campaign use cases, and will also be eligible for the Emergency Special Use Case if you will be sending alerts that meet the definition of the Emergency use case.

Registration for 527 Political Organizations

All 527 Political Organizations including political action committees (PACs) sending political communications on behalf of a Federal, State, or Local political campaign must be verified by Campaign Verify in order to successfully onboard to 10DLC and use the “Political” Special Campaign Use Case. This use case supports increased messaging limits. Campaign Verify is a secure, non-partisan verification solution for U.S. Political organizations who wish to engage with voters via text messaging.

Listed below are some important pieces of information about Campaign Verify registration:

There is a one-time $95 fee from Campaign Verify per entity verification per two-year election cycle.
If a Committee EIN is set during Campaign Verify verification (for state, local, or tribal verification only), this EIN will be cross referenced with the EIN used to register your A2P brand and must match.
If you have additional questions about Campaign Verify registration, please refer to their FAQ or email support@campaignverify.org
A Campaign Verify token can only be imported once. If a 527 organization is using multiple messaging providers, they should generate multiple Campaign Verify tokens - one per brand, created on their behalf.
501(c) advocacy organizations (e.g. 501(c)(4) social welfare groups) do not register with Campaign Verify. These groups will unlock the “political” special use case based on an automatic verification of their 501(c) status during brand registration and do not provide a token.

Campaign Verify Tokens

Verification will involve submitting information about your political organization to Campaign Verify, as well as verifying your identity as an authorized person associated with the political organization. Successfully importing a Campaign Verify token will assert your brand status as a verified 527 Political Organization with the carrier ecosystem.

After completing verification with Campaign Verify, you will receive a Campaign Verify Token (CV token) that you will then use during A2P 10DLC registration. Once a Campaign Verify token is imported, the A2P brand will qualify for the Political use case.

As a political service provider, you should instruct all of your 527 customers to register with Campaign Verify. If you are using Aerialink’s platform for 10DLC registration, you will need to securely collect the tokens from your clients, register their brands and then provide the tokens and brand id to Aerialink via a support ticket and we will submit them to TCR. If you are using TCR Portal for registrations, you may apply on your customer’s behalf within the external vetting section of the Brand Registration form. Ensure a valid Campaign Verify token is on-file for their Brand on an ongoing basis.

10DLC Carrier Specifications

AT&T 10DLC Message Class

The message class is the means by which AT&T designates trust levels for brands based on their use-cases and content. AT&T applies limits based on campaign type, and throughput is measured per-SMS-segment per-minute at the campaign level, meaning that all numbers in a campaign share the allotted throughput. Verified brands can have access to all standard Use Cases with message classes E and F. Russell 3000 brands have access to message classes A and B.

Note: throughput and SPAM enforcement to classes G, N and Y are at the number level rather than the campaign level.

Note that less trusted senders are subjected to more rigorous anti-SPAM policies than those with a higher level of trust. Changes to message class can be requested.

Transactions (Messages) per Second

To aid you in converting TPM (transactions per minute) to transactions per second, we have provided the below table for your convenience.

TPM per Campaign	TPS per Campaign
4,500	75
2,400	40
240	4
75	1.25

Verizon Transactions per Minute

The below throughput rate is applied per-long code to all Verizon 10DLC traffic.

Message Type	Throughput
SMS	6,000 transactions per minute
MMS	25 transactions per second

T-Mobile Daily Outbound Message Buckets

The following T-Mobile chart shows T-Mobile’s message tiers and a brand’s associated daily outbound message limit. By default, a brand with a Verified TCR status falls in the “low message tier.” The exception to that are Brands on the Russell 3000 Index, in which case the top message tier is assigned. Brands have the potential to move to a higher tier by applying for third-party vetting, which would result in a brand vetting score relative to a T-Mobile message tier.

The daily limit sets a total number of outbound SMS segments and MMS messages that your registered A2P Brand can send to T-Mobile subscribers per day. This reflects the peak limit on any single day and is not to be confused with a daily average. This limit is applied at the brand level and shared across all campaign use cases under the brand. For example, if a brand has a vetting score of 70, the brand falls in the “40,000 outbound message segments per day” tier. If that brand has four campaigns, those 40,000 outbound messages are shared across all four within a twenty-four-hour period. THe twenty-four-hour period begins at midnight (12:00 am) PST.

These message caps apply to 10DLC-Registered traffic and will become effective when the traffic is migrated to T-Mobile’s new 10DLC A2P Platform. Traffic is considered to be successfully migrated to T-Mobile when the long codes associated with the brand’s campaign have a T-Mobile “success” status.

If your expected required range is higher than any of the above range options, please submit for Special Business Review (Messaging Volume Exception).

T-Mobile Non-Use Fee

T-Mobile will charge a fee to any campaigns which are not in an “active” state. The goal of this fee is to encourage 10DLC campaigns to remain active, and to be deactivated when no longer in use. In order to meet T-Mobile’s standard of “active,” campaigns must be associated with at least one successfully published long code during a rolling sixty-(60)-day period. This fee went into effect on February 1st, 2023, at which point T-Mobile began charging the non-use fee to all inoperable (“inactive”) campaigns. This fee can be found listed with all other 10DLC fees here.

It is the responsibility of the Aerialink customer who provisioned the 10DLC campaign and its associated long codes to identify and deprovision campaigns which are no longer in use, or are expected no longer to be in use per the timeframe outlined above. Therefore, if you do not plan on using a campaign, please be sure to remove the numbers from the campaign and then deactivate it, which will change the campaign’s state to “expired,” and prevent it from incurring fees.

10DLC T-Mobile Special Requests

There are three exception processes which require the submission of a T-Mobile Special in the form of a Special Business Review for messaging volume or Number Pool Request on behalf of a campaign. If any of the below exceptions apply to you or to your customers, please contact your Aerialink Account Director to ensure that T-Mobile approval is reached.

This is required for campaigns with one or more of the following characteristics:

Fifty (50) or more long codes associated with a single campaign. Note that these requests are not appropriate for Independent Software Vendors.
Higher daily message volume still required after the brand obtains third-party vetting.
Allotted outbound messages per day must exceed 200,000.

Associated carrier pass-through fees can be found here under T-Mobile Number Pool and Special Business Review.

Classification and approval is based on parameters within the sole discretion of T-Mobile. Aerialink makes no guarantees regarding the outcome of any submission to a mobile network operator and fees and charges will be applicable for all services provided. Approvals or determinations by a mobile network operator may be re-evaluated at any time and any re-submissions will be subject to additional fees and charges.

T-Mobile Message Volume Request

If your campaign expects the allotted outbound messages per day to exceed 200,000, you must submit for a Message Volume Special Business Request with T-Mobile. Please send in a support ticket to begin this process, and include your brand, campaign, use-case and expected volume to get started.

T-Mobile Number Pool Request

T-Mobile imposes a limit of forty-nine (49) numbers per campaign to combat snowshoeing and ensure that brands and campaigns are registered as-intended. Legitimate use cases requiring more than forty-nine numbers within a single campaign must submit a request Number Pool qualification from T-Mobile. Campaigns approved as Number Pools by T-Mobile support fifty (50) or more numbers and permit number replacements and additions. A number pool is the most streamlined way to organize under a brand who would otherwise have multiple campaigns serving the same function.

Some common scenarios for number pools include:

Agents & Franchises special use cases.
Businesses with many dedicated numbers but low SMS usage. (e.g. each number is dedicated to monitoring an alert system wherein non-frequent disruptions are detected and trigger an outbound message alert to a monitoring team.)
Businesses with many dedicated numbers that require frequent replacement. (e.g. a large automobile dealership with a high turnover of sales team members)

To be approved for Number Pool, a campaign must be reviewed by T-Mobile. Note that before you submit a number pool request:

Schedule a review of your use case with your Account Team.
Register the brand and campaign with the Campaign Registry.
Obtain third-party vetting for your brand.
Ensure the “campaign description” field in the TCR campaign submission includes a detailed explanation as to why the brand requires fifty or more numbers in a single campaign
Understand that although number pools permit the use of more than forty-nine numbers in a single campaign, a number pool’s carrier-imposed limitations to throughput (shared at the campaign level) and daily volume (shared at the brand level) remain the same. If this is of concern, you may want to consider the Agents & Franchises special use case.
Note that the fee associated with a T-Mobile Number Pool is $2000 per 10DLC campaign review, and is non-refundable regardless of whether the number pool is ultimately approved or rejected by T-Mobile.

These steps are required by T-Mobile before the Number Pool request can be submitted.

Once the campaign is successfully processed, you must submit a ticket to our Help Desk Portal. In the subject, put “URGENT: 10DLC Number Pool Request “ so that we treat it with the appropriate level of priority. Attach a completed Number Pool Request form. It requires such information as your brand ID, the campaign ID, web address, use case, and the number of codes you will want in the pool as well as a specified test number which must be assigned to the campaign and already published successfully to AT&T. Use a new row for each campaign.

Number Pool requests are thoroughly scrutinized by T-Mobile, who may come back with questions before ultimately approving or rejecting the submission. The timeline for review, configuration and testing is approximately five-to-seven weeks. During this time, the numbers can be published as 10DLC to the Number Registry for registration with AT&T. When the numbers have been tested with T-Mobile as successful, they will be migrated to the T-Mobile platform, then republished to the Number Registry to reflect this change.

Note: Templatized Content - When brands are application service providers providing a messaging service with “templatized” content as opposed to free-form content (e.g. delivery notifications with standardized, templatized content), use the Comment field of the Number Pool Request form to add “Templatized.”

Note: Unacceptable Pool Use - Number pools are not intended for:

SMS reseller brands
Snowshoeing

Note: Direct TCR Registration - for Aerialink Resellers who use the Campaign Registry directly for 10DLC registrations:

Submit your numbers to support using the Number Pool Request form with their campaign ID included.

While your Number Pool request is being reviewed, we recommend you only add 49 numbers to the campaign until the Number Pool is approved. We realize that in some business cases that limit may be problematic. In this corner case scenario, inform our support team that the numbers are pending a Number Pool review. We will publish the numbers with the campaign ID to the non-sanctioned route until the Number Pool process is completed. Please note that traffic running on the non-sanctioned route will incur the non-sanctioned surcharge fee.

Our support team will notify you of whether your request is approved and live.

If approved, resubmit all associated numbers with the campaign ID. We will then associate the numbers to the campaign on the sanctioned A2P route. Numbers added to the campaign in the future will require the campaign ID.
If rejected, the campaign must be limited to 49 numbers. Resubmit the numbers with the campaign ID for republishing. Resubmit the numbers with their campaign ID (no more than 49 per campaign) to our support team for re-publishing to the A2P sanctioned route.

IMPORTANT: Checking the campaign attribute box for Number Pool in TCR portal or API DOES NOT constitute an approval. The Number Pool application must first be approved by T-Mobile and Aerialink.

10DLC Canadian Brand Registration

When conducting 10DLC Brand Registration for a Canadian entity, you should enter your Provincial Corporation Number as the Business Registration Number. Additionally, the following provinces have quirks that you should keep in mind when registering the number:

Ontario Corporation Number: ensure that you enter only the numbers after the two leading zeros.
British Columbia Corporation Number: ensure the BC prefix is part of the number.

If you find that using your Provincial Corporation Number as the Business Registration Number does not work for you, you may alternatively use your federally-issued Canada Corporation Number. In the case of a Canadian business, please do not use your business number or federal tax ID number, as that is not readily cross-referenced. As always, please ensure that your legal company name is consistent with your corporation registration and is properly spelled. The address you enter should also match the address you registered with Corporations Canada.

10DLC Campaign Suspension

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), the 10DLC delivery hub (DCA) and connectivity partner (CNP i.e. Aerialink) reserve the right to suspend campaigns which do not reach the minimum metrics defined by deliverability teams or whose content violates carrier, CTIA and Aerialink policies (such as the Aerialink Acceptable Use Policy and all carrier codes of conduct) including but not limited to spam, phishing and SHAFT violation content. For related fees, please refer to associated T-Mobile non-compliance fees here.

There are two types of suspensions which are detailed in the following sections.

Campaign Suspension via TCR

Campaigns suspended via TCR will see traffic from the suspended campaign fail toward any/all suspending MNOs. The TCR event will appear as follows:

TCR Event Name: MNO_CAMPAIGN_OPERATION_SUSPENDED
TCR Event Description (Example 1): Campaign CXXXXX suspended on Verizon Wireless network. Details: Not CTIA compliant.
TCR Event Description (Example 2): Campaign CXXXXX suspended on T-Mobile network. Details: Suspended for promoting the sale of cannabis.

The campaign page will also show the suspension in the Carrier Status section.

T-Mobile Non-Use Suspension

This type of campaign suspension impacts message delivery toward T-Mobile subscribers and number publishing for delivery to T-Mobile subscribers only.

A $250 T-Mobile Non-Use Fee is applied for each campaign which - curing a sixty-day rolling period - does not have at least one associated ten-digit number. As a courtesy, Aerialink runs a job that suspends campaigns at risk of incurring this T-Mobile fee at the thirty-day point within that sixty-day rolling period.

Regarding this suspension type, note:

This level of suspension is not reflected in TCR.
The Aerialink team will periodically reach out to customers with a list of Non-Use Suspended campaigns. (This process is currently manual as there is no API for this campaign status available curretly)
Attempted number publishing or message delivery toward T-Mobile will fail.
If you wish to begin adding numbers to a non-use-suspended campaign, please submit a support ticket. Aerialink will “resume” the campaign for you so numbesr can be added.
To avoid non-use suspension in the future, please ensure each successfully registered campaign has at least one (1) number provisioned to it.

Please reference the T-Mobile Non-Compliance Fees which are applicable across all number types.

Toll-Free Verification

All toll-free numbers are required to submit for verification.

This process is free of charge, and greatly reduces the turnaround time in the event of false-positive spam filtering upon your traffic. Verified Senders have a dedicated team on the carrier side who will take steps to resolve false-positive spam blocking without action required on our side, provided the use case being blocked aligns with the Verified use case.

A submission is required for each brand. Brands which have multiple use cases and use different numbers for each use case must specify which use case is aligned with which number.

Toll-Free Use Case Categories

When completing a Verified Sender form, you will be asked to include information about the use case. We recommend providing as much information as is possible. However, in the case of bulk verification, please ensure that the “Use Case Category” section includes one of the following specific categories:

2FA
App Notifications
Appointments
Auctions
Auto/Dealership Services
Banking
Billing
Booking Confirmations
Business Updates
COVID-19 Alerts
Career Training
Chatbot
Conversational / Alerts
Courier Services & Deliveries
Educational
Emergency Alerts
Employee Alerts / Notifications
Events & Planning
Financial Services
Fraud Alerts
Fundraising
General Marketing
HR / Staffing
Healthcare
Housing Community Updates
Insurance Services
Job Alerts
Legal Services
Mixed
Motivational Reminders
Notary Notifications
Notifications
Order Notifications
Political
Public Works
Real Estate Services
Receipt Notifications
Religious Services
Repair and Diagnostics Alerts
Rewards Program
Surveys
System Alerts
Waitlist Alerts
Webinar Reminders
Workshop Alerts

Toll-Free Opt-In

Be sure to specify which of the following types of opt-in flow your use case utilizes:

Online
Text to Join
Point of Sale
Other

And provide as much detail describing and/or depicting your use case if possible. Note that screenshots are required for online opt-ins.

Migrated Verified Numbers

Note that toll-free numbers previously verified with another provider will retain their verified status when migrated to Aerialink. The status will move with the number, and Aerialink will have visibility to that status within the verification hub portal. However, note that Aerialink will not have visibility to the business information associated with the original verification.

Throughput Limitations

The toll-free hub applies the following industry-wide threshold limits for messaging sent over toll-free numbers which are either “restricted” (formerly “unverified”) or “pending” (have submitted for verification but are not yet verified). Note that each message segment counts toward the limit, whether that segment is sent successfully or only attempted. Every message segment attempt counts toward the limit. For instance, a brand attempting to send 10,000 transactions on the first day of the month through a “Pending toll-free Number” will see only the first 2000 even potentially succeed, as that is the limit for a single day. However, because they have attempted a full 10,000 segments, they have then expended their allotment for the entire month. The number will then be blocked until the first day of next calendar month.

Note that these thresholds are subject to change.

Timeframe	Reset	Msg Segment Attempts: Pending TFN
Daily	12:00am PT	2,000
Weekly	Sunday, 12:00am PT	6,000
Monthly	The 1st, 12:00am PT	10,000

* Note: Support of “Restricted” traffic will be discontinued beginning November 8th, 2023, after which point all messages originating from “Restricted” toll-free numbers will be blocked with an error of 1160. There will be no changes to the permissions for “Pending” numbers at this time.

Please keep in mind the following:

The above limits apply to outbound message segments
Multi-segment messages count as multiple attempts toward the volumetric limits
All attempted message segments - successful or unsuccessful - count toward these limits
Segments attempted after limits are reached return DLR error code 488 - “Toll Free Not Verified”
Segments which return error code 488 still incur charges
If a limit is reached partway through a multi-segment message, some segments could be delivered while remaining segments would return error code 488.

To avoid having these volumetric limits imposed on your traffic, submit your TFNs for verification. Once submitted, they are placed into a pending status, during which they will enjoy slightly less stringent sending limitations while the use case is reviewed.

How to Apply for Verified Sender

To verify your toll-free use case, your campaign must be submitted to the toll-free sender verification team and approved. Note that verification is not a whitelisting - it does not guarantee that messages will never be blocked. However, it does place them in a trusted sender list, wherein wrongful blocks will be investigated carrier-side automatically without the need for escalation or inquiry from our side.

To get started, fill out all fields in either the Verified Sender Form for single submissions or Verified Sender Bulk Submission Form for bulk submissions, and include it in a support ticket request. We will then submit it on your behalf to the toll-free hub Verification team for review.

Note that all details requested in the form are required. Additionally, if your use case involves marketing or promotional messaging, carriers require collection of physical written consent through proof of opt-in. Therefore, your submission for Verified Sender status should include:

screenshots of the opt-in process step-by-step from the end-user perspective (if webform)
images or web links depicting the Call-to-Action which instructs the users on how to opt in (if keyword)

Additionally, if your use case involves multiple toll-free numbers, an explicit reason for this must be presented. Note that snowshoeing (the spreading of traffic between multiple numbers to increase bulk sending capabilities) is prohibited and is not a valid reason for using multiple toll-free numbers.

We highly recommend brushing up on all relevant compliance articles prior to submitting your use case.

Bulk Verification Submissions

Here are some guidelines for filling out the Verified Sender Bulk Submission Form:

All fields should be populated with information specific to the end-business use case. Therefore, the business contact (for example) should not be the same for all fields.
Opt-in Workflow Description: Be as detailed as possible. If there are multiple methods of opt-in, describe them all.
Additional Opt-in Information: Note that visuals work best - providing a URL link to the opt-in web form, or to an image of the opt-in document that the Verification Team can review, is highly recommended when applicable. (Note that this is obviously not required in cases where the opt-in is through a user-initiated keyword.) Keep in mind that this is a CSV file, so all images must be accessed by link. Image links can be generated by hosting services such as Google Drive or Dropbox.

Toll-Free Best Practices for Canada

The Canadian market has continued to evolve in its adoption of business texting and establishing operational processes to support this sanctioned traffic. The environment continues to evolve, but the Disallowed Content Policy and Best Practices guide remain the key framework for message deliverability across the toll-free hub’s network.

Opt-Out Rate: Must be below 1%
STOP Language: Must be provided in the first message and in the fifth message or once monthly for continued consumer awareness.
URL(s): Shorteners see higher block rates. It is recommended to use full URL domains. Unsecured URLs are not allowed.
Single Number Sending: Content providers whose number is blocked should not move to a new number.
Brand Identity: Messages must identify the sender.
Message Frequency: The number of messages sent to a subscriber should not exceed ten (10) in a month. If there is an expectation that the subscriber will receive multiple messages that should be stated in the beginning when a user opts in.
Customer Support Keywords: INFO, HELP and STOP keywords as well as the French AIDE and ARRET must be supported in the respective native language for each.
False Positives: Most false positive blocks on verified traffic will be handled by the toll-free hub with no action required by the content provider. Customers continuing false positive blocks on verified traffic should submit a support ticket to the Aerialink Help Desk.
Data Rates Verbiage: If an MT contains a link to a site accessible on a mobile phone, the message must state “data rates may apply” or “std msg & data rates may apply.”

Note that all programs are subject to the toll-free hub and/or carrier consent audits. Failure to comply with a requested consent audit may result in suspension or cancellation of messaging programs.

Toll-Free Suspension

If the content running on a toll-free number is found to be incongruous with the verified program, a network-level block may be placed by the toll-free hub to suspend traffic. To resume traffic, the content provider must prove either (A) that the suspension was unfounded or (B) that the problem traffic has been discontinued; or must (C) re-verify the number with the new use case.

Short Code Overview

For a short code to be certified, all required campaign components must meet carrier expectations. Remember: being legally compliant to the TCPA does not satisfy carrier requirements. Carriers can and will refuse to certify campaigns which uphold TCPA but do not meet their individual requirements.

Short Code Self-Check

Carriers conduct routine audits on all components of a live short-code program to ensure ongoing compliance, but this begins during the program certification process, so it is important to not only get off to a good start but sustain compliance at all times.

Ask yourself the following questions when reviewing your mobile program. If you answer “no” to any of them, your campaign is at risk of noncompliance.

Do all of your CTAs display opt-in instructions, a brief description of service, the word “recurring” if applicable, a message and data disclaimer and links to both Privacy Policy and mobile program Terms & Conditions clearly and conspicuously?
Is the “who, what, when, where, how” about your campaign obvious in your CTA?
Are all of your mobile programs clearly identified?
Have all of your mobile end-users provided express consent as defined by both the CTIA and the FCC TCPA?
Does your users’ consent apply solely to the program(s) for which they have expressly opted in?
Are your HELP and STOP keywords functioning properly, regardless of whether the end-user is opted into the program?
Do you present HELP and STOP information at point of opt-in?
Do you fulfill all opt-out requests within 72 hours of the end-user texting “STOP”?

Short Code CTA

A Call-to-Action both describes a mobile program and provides opt-in instructions to potential users. Remember: the carriers’ goal is to promote a consistent end-user experience across all short-code programs, so although some compliance language may differ depending on the type of media the CTA is published in, certain aspects remain expected across all mediums:

Company name
Program name
Description of offer
Short Code Terms & Conditions’ location*
Privacy Policy location
Customer support (HELP) information
Opt-in Instructions
Opt-out Instructions (if recurring)
Message & data rates disclaimer
“Recurring” statement (if recurring)

* The Terms & Conditions referenced here are not general company T&Cs, but rather T&Cs specific to short code and have unique requirements to meet compliance standards. See the Short Code T&Cs Article located below.

NOTE: All of the above should be located before/above the submit button or signature line, including the links to Terms and Privacy Policy. Links to Terms and Privacy Policy located in the page’s footer or anywhere below the submit do not meet compliance standards.

The “Why” About CTA Requirements

What the CTA provides is an answer to five “Ws” - who, what, when, where, how - to do with your mobile program. Below, we answer your “why” with in-depth explanations of which questions each compliance component answers.

Question	Component	Reason
Who	Company Name	Any mention of the sponsor company name in the CTA must be consistent. If the CTA mentions “ABC University” in one sentence and “ABCU” in another, this a conflict in company name consistency which will be flagged by the carriers for its potential to cause end-user confusion. Ensure that your sponsor name remains consistent throughout your CTA, even if it seems repetitive.
What	Program Name Program Description	Just as with the company name, the name by which you refer to your program must be consistent throughout your Call to Action. Furthermore, the words describing what your service provides must be clear and conspicuous without hidden meaning.
Where	T&Cs Location Privacy Policy Location	Users should be provided instructions for accessing your mobile program T&Cs and company privacy policy within your CTA, to answer any questions they may have about opting into your program that aren’t answered in the CTA itself.
When	Duration Frequency/Recurrence	Is your program on-going indefinitely or is it a one-month-long promotion? These questions must be answered in your CTA. Furthermore, while outright message frequencies expressing a detailed number of messages per time period are no longer required, programs that are subscription-based - or “recurring” - must state that fact within their CTA.
How	Opt-in Instructions Message&Data Disclaimer	“Text PROMO to 54321” is an example of an opt-in instruction. “Message and data rates may apply” is the standard-rate service’s pricing information. All of these things should be clear on your CTA and should not require scrolling or page-turning away from other portions of the CTA to read.*

*Note: Never use the word “FREE” for a standard campaign. Subscribers are still paying for message and data rates via their carrier.

CTA Best Practices

Implementing these CTA best practices are important steps to getting your SMS campaigns approved at the Registries.

Clear and Conspicuous: ‘Consent language’ is what the user is agreeing to receive. There must be clear, conspicuous disclosure of the messages the user will receive. Example: “By entering my number, I am agreeing to receive text messages related to billing notifications…”.
Proximity: The consent language to which user is agreeing to receive texts needs to be clearly visible and in close proximity to the call to action where they enter their number. You can’t bury the consent language where it is hard to see such as small print at the bottom of your page, or behind a link that the user must click through to see.
Brand Identify: The business must be clearly identified by either its company name or registered d/b/a.
Opt-in Checkbox: End-users must be capable of submitting a form for services without opting into text messages by default. A good practice is to include a specific checkbox for SMS opt-in. Note: It cannot be pre-checked.
Privacy Policy: Include a link to the brand’s privacy policy so consumer understands how their information will be used. If it is shared or sold to 3rd parties for other purposes, etc, carriers have the right to not accept the Campaign.

Example Call to Action

The following is an example of a live CTA:

Text SMS to 77039 for recurring mobile marketing tips from Aerialink Messenger. Msg&DataRatesMayApply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel.
Privacy Policy: https://www.aerialink.com/legal/privacy-policy/
Mobile Terms & Conditions: https://www.aerialink.com/legal/short-code/77039-sc/

Please keep in mind that on a web page, the T&Cs and Privacy Policy may take the form of linked text, but in print CTAs the full URL must be explicitly shown as demonstrated above.

Web Form CTAs

Web form CTAs have the same requirements as other types, but here are some additional factors to keep in mind:

The “phone” field cannot be mandatory.
The SMS Checkbox cannot be pre-checked, and cannot have agreement to SMS as a condition of moving forward in the form.
All compliance language - including links to Terms & Privacy - must be located above the “submit” button.

Short Code T&Cs

Mobile program Terms & Conditions must be published and/or web-accessible and must contain the components outlined below. While multiple mobile Terms & Conditions can share the same page, each must individually meet these requirements in order for that code/program to maintain compliance. These mobile Terms may be hosted on their own mobile Terms page, or included within a distinct section of company Terms & Conditions. Review the checklist below to ensure that your mobile Terms & Conditions page meets all criteria.

Component	Additional Requirements
STOP Instructions	Clear and conspicuous with “STOP” in bold.
HELP Instructions	Clear and conspicuous with “HELP” in bold.
Call to Action	Most Terms & Conditions pages require only simple opt-in instructions (e.g., “send KEYWORD to #####”). However, if the end-user will receive a phone call as a result of opting in, a full Call to Action is required on the Terms & Conditions Page.
Program/Sponsor Information	Program name, company name and/or brand associated with the campaign
Program/Service Description	What the program is and what services it provides.
Message&Data Rates Disclosure	“Msg&DataRatesMayApply,” worded thusly or spelled out, in bold.*
Frequency/Recurrence Statement	If your program will send out messages continually to the end-user post-opt-in without further end-user prompting, it must be described as “recurring.” This word should be bolded for easy location.
FCC TCPA Disclaimer	The following disclaimer is required for all marketing message campaigns: “By opting into [Program Name], the end-user agrees to receive pre-written marketing messages from or on behalf of [Sponsor] via short code [SC#], and understands that consent is not a condition of purchase.”**
Emergency Alert Disclaimer	If your service is providing emergency alerts, you should include the following disclaimer in your Terms & Conditions: Alerts sent via SMS may not be delivered to you if your phone is not in range of a transmission site, or if sufficient network capacity is not available at a particular time. Even within a coverage area, factors beyond the control of your wireless carrier may interfere with message delivery, including the customer’s equipment, terrain, and proximity to buildings, foliage, and weather. You acknowledge that urgent alerts may not be timely received and that your wireless carrier does not guarantee that alerts will be delivered.
Customer Service Information	A toll-free number, email address or web submission form
Privacy Policy Link	The privacy policy linked from your mobile terms & conditions can be a general privacy policy for your company. It does not have to be specific to your mobile program.
Material T&Cs	If multiple services are involved, they may share a page but must be distinct and clear from one another, and each program’s section must meet all of the requirements on this page.
Compatible Carriers	A list of carriers who support your service.
Carrier Liability Disclaimer	“Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.”
Confirmation	If a checkbox is used by an end-user to accept the mobile terms and conditions, it cannot be pre-checked.

* The phrase “standard rates may apply” is no longer accepted.
** Campaigns which are non-marketing in nature such as two-factor authentication, banking alerts, et cetera are not required to include the above disclaimer.

T&Cs Boilerplate

The below is a boilerplate short code terms and conditions page that covers minimum carrier requirements:

{Program Name}{Program Description: a brief description of the nature of the messages users can expect to receive when they opt in.}{Frequency Statement: Are messages recurring? State in bold.}{TCPA Disclaimer: “Subscribers agree to receive messages from [Brand or Program Name] via short code ##### and understand that consent is not a condition of purchase or service.”}{Message and Data Disclaimer: “Message and data rates may apply” in bold.}

{STOP Instructions: in bold}
{Customer Support Instructions}
{Link to Privacy Policy}
{Carrier Liability Disclaimer: “Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.”}
{List of Supported Carriers}

Sample T&Cs

Acme Billing & Payment Alerts is a standard-rate SMS (Short Messaging Service) program which provides account balance notifications to Acme customers. If you have any questions or concerns about sending and/or receiving SMS messages, please use our company information below to contact us for additional support. Subscribers have provided express consent to receive recurring messages from Acme via short code #####, while understanding that consent is not a condition of service from Acme, and that message and data rates may apply.

Please read our Privacy Policy for information regarding privacy and information usage.

Opt-out Instructions

Text “STOP” to ##### to opt out at any time. After you send the SMS message “STOP” to us, we will send you an SMS message to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. After this, you will no longer receive SMS messages from us. If you want to join again, just sign up as you did the first time and we will start sending SMS messages to you again.

Customer Support

For additional support, text the word HELP to #####, or call 800-555-1212 at any time.

Supported Carriers

Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Acme Billing & Payment Alerts is available on the following U.S. carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, UScellular, and many other smaller/regional carriers.

Short Code Use Case Approval

Carriers will approve the use case for a mobile program as long as they have a clear understanding of what your service offers. Follow the guidelines below when determining your use-case.

Standard-Rate Campaign vs. FTEU

Aerialink supports Standard-Rate messaging, which is the term used to describe programs which are not Free-to-End-User. Message and data rates may apply to mobile subscribers of standard-rate campaigns and the use of the term “free” to describe standard-rate campaigns is prohibited. Some carriers may require additional fees from FTEU campaigns to accommodate their “free” status to end-users.

Note: “Premium” message programs - which charged end-users directly either per-message or with a recurring subscription fee - are no longer supported by the mobile services industry.

Useful, Informative or Entertaining Service

Your campaign must provide a service to the end-user. This service can be useful, informative, entertaining or any combination therein. A service which prompts a user to text in “hi” to receive a response of “hi” from your system is not a sound use case on its own and may be declined by the carriers.

No Adult Content

Adult-oriented violent or sexual content is prohibited.

Requested Interaction

The information you send to your end-user must have been solicited by them. Your use case must therefore include a call-to-action whose purpose is to grab user attention and invite them not only to try the service, but instruct them on how to do so. See the Call to Action article for more information about the CTA.

Short Code Sweepstakes Programs

If your short code program is a Sweepstakes, bear in mind that you must provide answers to the following:

How is the program classified as a “sweepstakes”?
Can/will end-users opt into the sweepstakes via a short code or program to which they have already subscribed?
Can/will end-users initiate the opt-in via a separate CTA, keyword, or other opt-in mechanism?
What is your CTA? Where will it be displayed?
Where are your official rules located?

Short Code MMS Certification

Short codes must be certified for MMS independently from their SMS certification, even if the same short code will be used for both services and has already been certified for SMS.

It is Aerialink’s policy to submit new certifications for SMS and MMS concurrently, as when submitted simultaneously the MMS certification comes at no additional charge, while submitting MMS later on will incur a full amendment fee. For more information about the cost of MMS certification, speak with your Aerialink Account Manager.

In order to certify for MMS via short code we must exemplify the MMS use-case - in other words, how will MMS be used to engage with the end-user on this code? As such, we will need some things from you:

A summary of how you intend to use MMS on the code.
An example inbound message (including image).
One or more example outbound messages (including images).

Short Code Migration (Inbound)

0. Initial Review

Aerialink will review the program to determine whether it is viable for short code certification.

Lease Transfer

Transferring your lease to our Short Code Registry account is not required. However, you may elect to do so. Please see our Inbound Lease Transfer article for more information.

1. Short Code Receipt

If you do not wish to transfer the lease of your short code to our account, we will require the most up-to-date receipt for payments on your short code.

To obtain this:

Log into the CSCA account currently holding the lease for the short code.
Locate the code you are migrating to Aerialink and expand using the “+” sign.
Click “View Individual Short Code Receipt”
Click “Download Receipt”
Send this receipt to the existing ticket for your short code migration, or open a new ticket and CC your Account Manager.

2. Program & System Readiness

Use our System Requirements page as a checklist to review the required capabilities that your application must support. These are bare minimum requirements for carrier testing.
Review our Compliance section to ensure that your mobile program’s Terms & Conditions, Call-to-Action and message content are ready for submission.
The URL to your mobile program’s Terms & Conditions webpage should be live (not on a test or development server).

3. Aerialink Review

We will do a thorough review of your short code program to ensure it is up to compliance standards and to help reduce back-and-forth with the carriers. This will improve turnaround time. Please ensure that you set appropriate customer expectations that they will need to make changes throughout this process if requested.

4. Hub Review

The short code hub’s compliance team will conduct their own review of the submission and will notify us of any recent updates or changes to carrier policy so that we can adjust our submission in advance of sending it to the carriers. Again, this will assist in improving turnaround time.

5. Carrier Review

Once submitted to the carriers, the 6-8 week timeline begins. Note that some carriers review before provisioning, while others wait until certification to conduct their review.

6. Carrier Provisioning & Migration

Each carrier will provision your short code and perform testing on their end to ensure live messages match what is in the program brief. Carriers will flip the switch to pull traffic through the new route. Note that when these are turned on, it may seem that the code is “launched” prior to our confirmation. However, we suggest you use this time to run tests and ensure that the campaign is fully functional. It is not recommended to go live on the code prior to our confirmation of launch.

7. Carrier Certification

There are some carriers who wait to review the campaign until after provisioning, during this certification phase. Therefore, bear in mind that the customer may still receive questions and changes requests from the carriers at this time. However, once certification is complete, the code will move to the “Launch” phase.

8. Launch

The code will launch carrier by carrier, and Aerialink will notify you as this happens. Note that some carriers may launch the code within a few days of completing provisioning while others may take longer.

Short Code Migration (Outbound)

You may transfer your short code lease and/or migrate service to a different SMS Service Provider at any time. Simply contact your Aerialink account manager or customer support if you wish to initiate lease transfer or service migration.

Short Code Service Transfer

Aerialink will facilitate the live short code migration to your new provider if you wish to transfer service away from Aerialink.

Canadian Short Code Certification

When considering mobile program compliance for Canada, please don’t forget to check against Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).

Certification Documentation

CSC Application Form

In place of the program brief used in the United States, this CSC Application Form is slightly more detailed in its requirements. Below is listed some key information you will want to have on hand when completing this form in addition to the message content, CTAs and links to T&Cs.

Party Roles - The CWTA will want to know any and all company entities involved with the short code program that is undergoing certification.
“Call” Flow - You must provide not only the message responses for system keywords, but all active keywords and their associated responses involved in the flow and conduct of the mobile program.
Explicit Message Frequency - While U.S. carrier standards have shifted to a simple “recurring” or non-recurring approach with regard to message frequency, the CWTA still requires that programs whose messages are recurring detail the frequency of that recurrence explicitly (e.g. “2msgs/mo,” “1msg/wk,” etc).
Marketing & Traffic Projections - Even if you’re estimating, the CWTA will want to see them.

CWTA Ready for Testing Document

This form is essentially a repeat of details you will provide in your CSC Application Form, but is a concise focus on keywords, their responses and customer support information such as web pages, numbers and email addresses. Aerialink typically completes this document on behalf of our customers using the information you provide in the aforementioned CSC Application Form, but you are welcome to request and view this document at any time.

Canadian Short Code CTA

Your Canadian CTA should include a bare minimum of:

Opt-in Instructions
Msg&Data Disclaimer
Explicit message frequency if recurring

Short Code Auditing and Suspension

The CTIA conducts routine audits on behalf of U.S. carriers to ensure compliance with the guidelines in the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook. When any short code content provider is deemed non-compliant, Aerialink is given a notice which we pass to our customers. These notices identify the violation, the necessary remediation steps, the severity (as-defined in the aforementioned Handbook’s table 4.3-1) the date for expected resolution. Once we receive confirmation from the customer in question that the issue is resolved, we pass this back to the CTIA, who will then confer with the carriers to determine whether the violation has been satisfied.

Short codes may be suspended in the event that:

The violation falls under Severity 0 (SHAFT violation, phishing, illegal drugs)
The violation is not remediated in the time agreed upon.
The remediation is dissatisfactory to the carriers.

Aerialink Compliance articles are for informational use only. They do not constitute, and should not be taken as or in place of, legal advice. Aerialink customers are responsible for meeting all legal requirements applicable to their programs and are strongly encouraged to consult formal legal counsel.

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