10DLC Registration
Register your 10DLC campaigns — 2026 rules, fees & timelines
10DLC registration has been mandatory for all U.S. A2P messaging since February 1, 2025 — unregistered traffic is blocked. Tychron registers your brands and campaigns with The Campaign Registry (TCR), keeps them compliant as carrier rules change, and gets most campaigns approved in days, not weeks.
The 2026 state of 10DLC
What you need to know right now
- Registration is fully mandatory. Since February 1, 2025, U.S. carriers block A2P traffic on 10-digit long codes that isn't registered to an approved campaign. There is no grace period and no unregistered rate tier anymore.
- Approvals are fast when submissions are clean. Most campaigns clear carrier review in 24–72 hours. Incomplete opt-in descriptions and mismatched sample messages are the most common reasons that stretches into weeks.
- Enforcement has shifted to audits. In 2026, carriers and TCR increasingly review campaigns after approval — content that drifts from the registered use case can be suspended even if it was approved initially.
- Fees changed repeatedly this year. Carriers updated pass-through fees three times in 2026 alone: T-Mobile and UScellular on January 19, Verizon on May 1 (outbound SMS/MMS, plus a $500 short-code migration charge), and eighteen regional operators on July 1. Every change is in the dated updates feed below.
- RCS is now part of the picture. TCR handles RCS agent vetting alongside 10DLC — see our RCS Business Messaging page for how the two work together.
New to the process? Start with our step-by-step 10DLC Registration Guide, or jump straight to the registration form.
Costs
2026 registration fees
Last verified July 21, 2026. Fees are set by The Campaign Registry and the carriers, and are passed through at cost.
| Item | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brand registration | $4.50 | One-time, per brand ($4 for sole proprietors) |
| Standard vetting | $41.50 | Optional — unlocks higher throughput tiers |
| Enhanced vetting | $101.50 | For brands needing top throughput or special use cases |
| RCS agent vetting (Aegis) | $75 | Applies to RCS Business Messaging agents |
| Item | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard campaign vetting | $15 | Per vetting attempt, passed through at cost — each attempt is billed, including rejections and resubmissions (and campaigns rejected in Tychron review before carrier submission) |
| 48-hour expedited vetting (optional) | $50 | Per campaign; requests before 12:00 PM ET, up to 50 campaigns/day. If the 48-hour window is missed, only the standard fee applies |
Vetting fees make first-pass approval worth real money: every rejection re-bills the fee before you count the lost days. Tychron's in-house review before submission exists to spend it once.
| Campaign type | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Standard / Marketing / Mixed | $10 |
| Low-Volume Mixed | $1.50 |
| Sole Proprietor | $2 |
| Charity (501(c)(3)) | $3 |
| Agents & Franchises | $30 |
Carrier pass-through fees (per-message surcharges set by each network operator) apply on top of TCR fees and change frequently — in 2026 alone, T-Mobile and UScellular updated rates January 19, Verizon May 1, and eighteen regional carriers July 1. The complete current per-carrier schedule is published at tychron.com/company/carrier-surcharges, and the updates feed below tracks each change as Tychron notifies customers.
Process
How registration works
- Register your brand. Legal business name, EIN, address, and contact details go to TCR. Accuracy matters — data is checked against public records, and mismatches are the #1 cause of delays.
- Choose vetting (optional but recommended). Standard or enhanced vetting raises your throughput tiers with the carriers.
- Register your campaign. Pick the use case, describe the message flow, and document exactly how recipients opt in, opt out, and get help.
- Submit sample messages. Marketing, mixed, and special use cases need at least two samples (up to five). Samples must match the declared use case, mark variable content in [brackets], carry opt-out language on recurring/marketing messages, and use branded links — public shorteners like bit.ly are not accepted.
- Carrier review & go-live. Clean submissions typically approve in 24–72 hours — and a 48-hour expedited vetting option ($50 per campaign) is available when a launch date can't wait. Tychron then applies your carrier-compliant rate limits automatically and traffic can start immediately.
Common rejection reasons and how to avoid them are covered in the full registration guide.
For platforms & resellers
Bring your own CSP account — Tychron as your Connectivity Partner
If you're a UCaaS platform, reseller, or software provider with your own Campaign Service Provider (CSP) account at The Campaign Registry, you don't re-register anything to run on Tychron. TCR's model separates who registers a campaign (the CSP) from who carries its traffic — the Connectivity Partner, or CNP — and Tychron operates as a CNP for exactly this case.
You keep your brands, campaigns, and customer relationships under your own CSP account, and share campaigns to Tychron through TCR's standard sharing flow. Our vetting team reviews each shared campaign against the same standards we apply to campaigns registered through us, connectivity is provisioned on our platform, and your traffic gets the same carrier-grade routing, throughput handling, and inbound treatment as natively registered campaigns.
Eligibility is simple: any campaign that's active in TCR and already accepted by at least one carrier's DCA can be shared — it doesn't have to be fully vetted across every network first, only clear of an active suspension (TCR holds a migration until any suspension is lifted). A move completes as each new party accepts its role in the connectivity chain, and TCR allows a 30-day window to finish — so larger portfolios simply come over in the order partners confirm.
Start your registration today
Fill out and submit the form below to get started with your 10DLC campaign registration.
Latest 10DLC & messaging updates
Dated changes that affect your registration and per-message costs. We update this feed as carriers and TCR publish changes — the complete current surcharge schedule and the fee notice archive carry the full per-carrier tables.
Eighteen regional carriers add A2P surcharges in both directions — SMS $0.0045, MMS $0.01 outbound
07/01/2026 - Carrier fees
Effective July 1, 2026, eighteen regional and rural operators — including C Spire, Cellcom, Viaero, Union Wireless, Carolina West, Alaska DigiTel (GCI), and Dish Wireless — introduced or increased pass-through fees on 10DLC and standard-rated short code traffic: SMS at $0.0045 per message in both directions (outbound and inbound), and 10DLC MMS at $0.01 outbound / $0.005 inbound. Two exceptions: Dish Wireless inbound is exempt at $0.00, and Appalachian Wireless charges $0.004 on outbound SMS only. The fees first appear on August invoices, covering July traffic.
Apple ships end-to-end encrypted RCS on major U.S. carriers (iOS 26.5)
05/11/2026 - RCS
iOS 26.5 enabled end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging on the major U.S. carriers, continuing RCS's rapid maturation since Apple added support in iOS 18. For businesses, RCS now reaches the large majority of U.S. smartphones with branding, verification, and rich media — see what RCS Business Messaging can do.
Verizon raises outbound surcharges — SMS $0.0045, MMS $0.007 — and adds a $500 short-code migration charge
05/01/2026 - Carrier fees
Effective May 1, 2026, Verizon increased outbound (MT) pass-through fees across 10DLC, standard-rated short code, and toll-free traffic: SMS at $0.0045 and MMS at $0.007 per message. Inbound (MO) remains $0.00. Verizon also introduced a $500 one-time charge per migrated standard-rated short code — worth factoring into any planned short-code moves. First reflected on June invoices, covering May traffic.
T-Mobile and UScellular raise A2P termination fees across 10DLC, short code, and toll-free
01/19/2026 - Carrier fees / TCR
Effective January 19, 2026 — superseding a December 16 notice — T-Mobile set SMS pass-through at $0.0045 outbound and $0.0025 inbound across 10DLC, short code, and toll-free traffic. (After briefly retiring the inbound surcharge in mid-December, T-Mobile re-enacted it days later.) T-Mobile MMS rates are unchanged. UScellular updated its schedule the same day: 10DLC SMS $0.005 outbound / $0.0025 inbound, 10DLC MMS $0.01 in both directions, toll-free SMS $0.0045 / $0.0025, and short-code SMS $0.0045 outbound. TCR's revised fee schedule also took effect in January, listing RCS agent vetting (Aegis) at $75.
FCC proposes folding branded calling and Rich Call Data into STIR/SHAKEN
12/05/2025 - Voice / FCC
The FCC's rulemaking published December 5, 2025 proposes that carriers display verified caller names for calls with A-level attestation, formalizing branded calling within the STIR/SHAKEN framework. If adopted, verified calling moves from competitive advantage to expectation — Tychron's Verified Calling already positions you for it.
New and increased 10DLC termination fees from select operators — C-Spire adds inbound charges
11/01/2025 - Carrier fees
Effective November 1, 2025: PeeringHub and AHOI introduced $0.0035 outbound SMS termination fees, Claro (Puerto Rico Telephone) increased outbound SMS to $0.010, and C-Spire raised outbound SMS to $0.0035 while adding inbound fees for the first time — $0.0035 on SMS and $0.005 on MMS. Reflected on December invoices, covering November traffic.
FCC adopts georouting requirements for texts to 988
09/16/2025 - Messaging / FCC
New FCC rules published September 16, 2025 require texts to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to be georouted to local crisis centers, extending the earlier call-georouting mandate. Carriers and messaging providers handling 988 traffic must route based on the sender's location rather than area code.
Viaero, Pine Belt, and Fastwyre set 10DLC SMS fees at $0.0035 in both directions
09/01/2025 - Carrier fees
Effective September 1, 2025, Viaero Wireless, Pine Belt Wireless, and Fastwyre (TelAlaska Cellular) moved 10DLC SMS pass-through fees to $0.0035 per message, applied to both outbound and inbound traffic.
A dozen regional carriers add inbound 10DLC SMS surcharges at $0.0035
08/01/2025 - Carrier fees
Effective August 1, 2025, twelve regional operators — including Carolina West, Inland Cellular, Cellcom, Thumb Cellular, Union Wireless, Nex-Tech, Dish, and SouthernLinc — added a $0.0035 inbound (MO) surcharge on 10DLC SMS, with outbound rates unchanged for most. 1st Point Communications / Shelcomm moved to $0.004 per message in both directions.
FCC opt-out rules in effect: revocation by any reasonable means, honored within 10 business days
04/11/2025 - Messaging / FCC
FCC rules effective April 11, 2025 require senders to honor opt-out requests made by any reasonable means — not just the STOP keyword, but natural-language replies too — within 10 business days, with at most one final confirmation message. Tychron customers should make sure opt-out handling recognizes conversational revocations, and keep including opt-out reminders in recurring sends.
Reminder: 10DLC registration became fully mandatory — unregistered A2P traffic is blocked
02/01/2025 - 10DLC
As of February 1, 2025, U.S. carriers block unregistered A2P traffic on 10-digit long codes outright. If any of your traffic still runs unregistered, it is not being delivered. Register your campaigns to restore deliverability.
Archive: 2021–2022 rollout updates
Historical - 10DLC rollout era
Highlights from the original 10DLC rollout, kept for reference:
- 01/18/2022 — AT&T announced fees for unregistered traffic effective 03/01/2022 ($0.004/SMS, $0.005/MMS).
- 01/14/2022 — T-Mobile announced fees for unregistered traffic effective 03/01/2022 ($0.004/SMS, $0.013/MMS), plus $50 campaign activation and migration fees.
- 11/05/2021 — T-Mobile postponed its non-compliance fee schedule.
- 2021 — Carrier codes of conduct, grace periods, and trust-score changes during the initial registration push; 501(c)(3), public safety, and K-12 exemptions defined.
These rates and deadlines are historical and no longer in effect. See the entries above for current fees.
10DLC registration FAQ
How long does 10DLC registration take in 2026?
Brand registration is near-instant once submitted. Campaign approval typically takes 24–72 hours when the submission is complete and consistent. Rejections and resubmissions are what stretch timelines into weeks — the most common causes are vague use-case descriptions, missing opt-in details, and sample messages that don't match the declared use case.
What does 10DLC registration cost?
TCR charges a one-time brand fee ($4.50, or $4 for sole proprietors), optional brand vetting ($41.50 standard / $101.50 enhanced), and a monthly campaign fee ($1.50–$30 depending on campaign type — $10 for most standard and marketing campaigns). Campaign vetting by the third-party DCA is $15 per vetting attempt (optional $50 48-hour expedite), and carrier pass-through fees then apply per message. Full tables are in the fees section above.
What happens if I send A2P traffic without registering?
It doesn't get delivered. Since February 1, 2025, U.S. carriers block unregistered A2P traffic on 10-digit long codes. Before that date carriers charged penalty rates for unregistered traffic; now the traffic is simply filtered.
What gets campaigns rejected most often?
An opt-in the reviewer can't see or verify, missing disclosures at the point of consent (brand name, frequency, "Message and data rates may apply", STOP/HELP), vague use-case descriptions, samples that don't match the declared use case, pre-checked or forced consent checkboxes, and business-record mismatches. The full guide covers each with the fix.
What's the difference between standard and enhanced vetting?
Vetting is an optional third-party review of your brand that determines your daily message throughput with the carriers. Standard vetting ($41.50) suits most businesses; enhanced vetting ($101.50) is for brands that need maximum throughput or have complex structures. Without vetting, brands get conservative default limits.
Can sole proprietors and small businesses register?
Yes. TCR has a dedicated sole proprietor path ($4 brand fee, $2/month campaign) for individuals without an EIN, with lower throughput limits. Low-volume mixed campaigns ($1.50/month) also fit small senders.
I have my own CSP account — do my campaigns need to be registered under Tychron?
No. Tychron also operates as a Connectivity Partner (CNP): keep your registrations under your own CSP account and share campaigns to Tychron through TCR's standard sharing flow — your traffic runs on our network without re-registering brands or campaigns. See Tychron as your Connectivity Partner above.
Do short codes need 10DLC registration?
No — dedicated short codes sit outside the 10DLC system entirely. They're leased through the U.S. Short Code Registry and vetted directly by each carrier, with conduct governed by the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Program rather than TCR. The consent, HELP/STOP, and disclosure standards are materially the same, so a compliant program ports well between channels. See Short Codes for timelines and costs.
Do RCS campaigns need separate registration?
RCS Business Messaging agents go through their own verification, which TCR now handles alongside 10DLC (RCS agent vetting is $75). If you run RCS with SMS fallback, your fallback traffic still needs a registered 10DLC campaign — well-registered 10DLC also protects RCS deliverability. See RCS Business Messaging.
Got Questions?
With just a short conversation, we can help you get started with A2P 10DLC messaging. Register your 10DLC campaigns with Tychron to simplify the process.