A2P 10DLC (US carrier registration for text messaging)

You can start your application here.

US carrier registration, also known as the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices (A2P 10DLC) Program, is a regulatory framework established by wireless carriers in the US.

It aims to enhance messaging services and prevent spam and fraudulent activities by ensuring long-code phone number business users that send SMS messages to other US phone numbers register themselves to create trust and a better business ecosystem.

A2P 10DLC stands for Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code and refers to the method of sending messages to individuals via third party services using a regular 10-digit phone number.

The Campaign Registry are the third-party service that reviews and processes your application, and is the organisation who your fees go to when your application is submitted.

You'll need to register if you send or plan to send SMS messages to other US phone numbers.

From 31/08/2023, if you don't, you won't be able to send messages from Chalkboard, however, you can still receive them even if you don't register.

Yes, this registration process is an industry-wide US change that affects all virtual number providers that send SMS or MMS messages from 10DLC to other US numbers.

If you're a US user only making/receiving calls, you don't need to do anything, but its worth noting that features such as auto-reply class as 'sending SMS messages from a long code phone number' and as such, are subject to the requirement to register.

Once your registration is approved, you'll be immediately charged:

• A one-off $4 brand registration fee (this covers the review and registration of your business), and;
• A one-off $15 manual vetting fee (this covers the manual review of the messaging samples provided in your application)
  

100% of these fees are paid to The Campaign Registry and other third-party services involved in the registration process.

We'll charge your default card on the account once your application has been approved.

Once your application is reviewed, depending on your business type you'll either have to pay:

• A $1.50/month Low Volume Standard campaign fee, or
• A $2/month Sole Proprietor campaign fee

These fees are essentially a monthly admin charge set by The Campaign Registry to keep your business registered and whilst they are invoiced alongside your Chalkboard subscription each month, go directly to cover these costs.

There are 2 routes to getting registered. When you start the process with us, we'll ask a couple of questions to decide which is best for you.

Generally, companies with a business tax ID (such as a US EIN) need to register as Low Volume Standard, otherwise it will be Sole Proprietorship.

The main differences between the Low Volume Standard type and Sole Proprietorship, are:

• The monthly fee is $2 for Sole Proprietorship ($1.50 for Low Volume Standard).
• With Sole Proprietorship, only 1 Chalkboard phone number can be registered and you'll choose which one to register when you submit your application.

You can use long-code numbers to send a variety of messages, such as:

• To notify your users about business-specific updates
• To market services or products or to confirm/manage product orders
• To verify users as part of a compliance or onboarding procedure
• To communicate directly/engage in a discussion about business-related topics or to provide general customer service
• For polls/surveys

Message types that aren't eligible for registration include, but are not limited to:

• Gambling-related messages
• The sale, distribution or discussion of federally illegal substances
• S.H.A.F.T messages (also known as sex, hate, alcohol, firearms & tobacco)
• High-risk financial messages related to payday or high-interest loans, cryptocurrency or debt collection
• Phishing scams

Also bear in mind that some of these types of message are also prohibited in our own terms of use. You can read more about Chalkboard's own acceptable content terms in our Terms of Service.

You'll still be able to register, but will be directed to register under the Sole Proprietorship type.

If you register for Low Volume Standard, you'll be able to add or remove phone numbers at any time and they'll all be covered by your A2P 10DLC registration.

If you register for Sole Proprietorship, you'll be limited to one phone number that you'll specify when you register. You can add more phone numbers but they wouldn't be registered for A2P 10DLC.

You can register for Low Volume Standard at any time, even whilst you're waiting for phone numbers to be ported in.

If you register for Sole Proprietorship, you should wait until the phone number is ported in as you'll need to specify the number during your registration.

At this time, you'll need to re-register as this information isn't transferred from your old provider, but this may change in the future.

There is currently a backlog of applications for The Campaign Registry to review, so at present, the timeframe to be approved is longer than normal.

We advise you to complete your registration form ASAP to minimise future disruption.

You can start your application here.

You'll need to be direct card billed to be able to register as we will need to add charges to your account during the process, and monthly thereafter.

If your subscription is currently billed and managed by the Google Play or Apple app store, you'll need to migrate to direct card billing. It only takes 60 seconds to migrate and you can follow the steps here.