What's happening?
T-Mobile launched its A2P 10DLC service on April 1st, 2021. This launch will assume new campaign registration fees & NAF’s (Network Access Fee) on all text messages sent or received from T-Mobile phone numbers. In addition, there will be additional compliance requirements.
What are the new T-Mobile Fees?
There are essentially two categories of fees. Standard fees are applicable to all. In addition, use cases which T-Mobile defines as ‘special’ and therefore require special business review and pre-approval.
NAF’s (Network Access Fee) beginning April 1st 2021:*
- $0.003 - per SMS message (Inbound & Outbound)
- $0.01 - per MMS message (Inbound & Outbound)
Campaign Registration:
- $50 one-time fee per campaign (this is in addition to the $10 monthly recurring campaign fee paid to The Campaign Registry).
NOTE - This fee was originally slated to go into place on April 1st, 2021. However, T-Mobile has postponed this fee to a future date (TBD), to allow for further time to get your campaigns registered. Please use this time to make sure you get your campaigns submitted.
Special use cases & associated fees: As mentioned, T-Mobile has set forth new guidance as to what types of use cases are considered ‘special’ and therefore need pre-approval. Below is a list of these use cases and their associated fees -
- Brands that require 50 or more numbers - $5,000 one-time fee upon approval. A brand represents each individual company as a whole (this is different from a campaign). If your Brand has (or will have) more than 50 numbers associated with it, special T-Mobile approval will be required. You will be required to provide the business use case as to why more than 50 numbers are needed. When filling & submitting the campaign registration form, please be sure to answer the associated question so we can get the request processed properly.
- Brands that require daily messaging volumes that will exceed 200,000 or more messages - $5,000 one-time fee upon approval. When your brand becomes registered, it is assigned a trust score. Your trust score along with your campaign type are used by the MNO’s to determine throughput limits. T-Mobile allocates throughputs at the ‘Brand’ level (not the campaign level like AT&T). If your brand requires more than 200,000 daily messaging limits, a pre-approval via T-Mobile will be required. If approved, the one-time fee mentioned above will be charged. When filling & submitting the campaign registration form, please be sure to answer the associated questions so we can get the request processed properly.
NOTE - The two fees mentioned above were originally slated to go in place on April 1st, 2021. However, T-Mobile has postponed this fee to a future date (TBD), to allow for further time to get your campaigns registered. Please use this time to make sure and get those requests submitted.
Why is this happening?
The MNO’s (Mobile Network Operators aka wireless carriers) have partnered up with a company called Kaleyra to create The Campaign Registry. The Campaign Registry provides Application-to-Person (A2P) 10 Digit Long Code (10DLC) messaging campaign registration services. The platform is a single source of information about 10DLC messaging campaigns throughout the U.S., enabling the messaging ecosystem (the MNO’s) to see who sent any given 10DLC message and what they claim to be sending, which can be checked and validated against actual messaging behavior.
MNO’s can now have visibility into the “who” and “what” of each messaging campaign which allows them to provide a better quality of service for 10DLC messaging, while service providers like Twilio, Bandwith.com, Signalwire etc can have confidence knowing that they are using an officially sanctioned messaging channel. Customers such as yourselves can finally benefit from a better quality of service as well as better predictability of success for your messaging campaigns.
The Campaign Registry is about creating a centralized, trusted access point to key information enabling the messaging service providers to exchange transparency (directly with the MNO’s) in who they are and what they are doing for more predictable and reliable service delivery to end-users.
What do I need to do?
As mentioned above, Bipath is a fully registered Campaign Service Provider with The Campaign Registry. To begin the process, we will need to get your numbers and campaigns verified with the registry. You can start that process by filling and submitting this form and then contacting your account representative.
How does T-Mobile determine throughputs?
When you register your business as a Brand, The Campaign Registry run’s a verification check using the information provided. Based on the outcome of that verification check, the Registry will assign your Brand a Trust Score (Low, Med, High). This trust score along with the type of campaign’s you will be running are used by T-Mobile to determine your throughput.
How does T-Mobile allocate throughputs?
As opposed to AT&T (who allocates throughputs on a text per minute basis), T-Mobile will be setting a daily messaging at the Brand (aka business) level. Meaning, you can send as fast as you would like but only up to the daily allotted amount. To clarify, if your Brand has multiple campaigns, they will all share this daily message allotment. See below chart for breakdown -
What if my approved Trust Score is not high enough for my needs?
If the trust score your Brand is approved for upon sign up does not fit your needs, There are 3rd party vetting partners of the registry that allow for additional vetting. There is a cost of $40 one time fee per brand with that process and added vetting does not guarantee a better outcome. You can request the added vetting within the messenger from within your Contact Cloud dashboard.
Will I be able to send messages at the throughputs I am approved for via the registry?
As of April 1st, the MNO’s will not have full support for the added throughputs, but we expect that to happen in the near future. We will communicate once those changes have been in place.
What if I don't register?
As mentioned above, the purpose of this new ecosystem is to provide valid businesses with a reliable way to ensure their messages will be delivered successfully, while at the same time ensuring non-valid businesses as well as nefarious players are not. For this system to work, the MNO’s have put the following in place:
- Higher NAF’s (Network Access Fees) - Messages sent from numbers not registered after May 1st, will incur a higher NAF’s (ATT NAFs posted here) than those registered.
- Campaign registration - Although the $50 one time T-Mobile costs have been postponed for now, they will go in place in the near future.
- Added fees for Special use cases - As mentioned above, any business needing either 50+ numbers or higher levels of daily throughputs will need pre-approval and will assess a $5,000 one time fee in the near future. Anything registered prior will be waived.
- Heavy Message Filtering / Blocking - In addition, both T-Mobile & AT&T have announced that any messages sent from numbers not registered will be subject to heavy filtering and potential blockage in the very near future.
FAQ’s
Do these changes apply to Verizon's existing A2P 10DLC service?
No! Verizon has not officially announced a partnership with The Campaign Registry as of yet. If that changes in the future, we will provide additional communication.
What about other mobile networks?
This whole ecosystem is still very new as well as a large industry change. The Campaign Registry is continuing to work with all the MNO’s and we expect them all to join in the near future. We will provide those updates accordingly.
Do these changes apply everywhere or just in the US?
These changes currently only apply to 10DLC numbers sending messages sent to & from T-Mobile numbers. If you are sending messaging exclusively outside of the US, no changes need to be made at this time.
What if I am already registered on The Campaign Registry with another provider, will I need to re-register again when migrating to Contact Cloud app?
Yes! Each messaging provider is its own CSP (Campaign Service Provider) & registered uniquely with The Campaign Registry. If you are migrating from another provider, you will need to go through this process.
If I am migrating from another provider, will my messages be blocked before I am registered with Contact Cloud app?
No! Your current registration will remain in place until your Bipath Contact Cloud registration overwrites the current information. Thus allowing for zero disruptions.
What if I switch to another provider in the future, will I need to re-register?
Yes! As mentioned, each messaging provider is it’s own unique CSP (Campaign Service Provider). Therefore, you would need to go through the same process with the new provider when switching over.
Can I have numbers with multiple providers at the same time?
Yes! However, you would need to register with each provider accordingly for each set of numbers.
