Messaging Fees & Surcharges
Carrier Fees
TCR Costs
TCR Costs include a $4.00 fee for Brand Registration and Verification (charged each time the Brand detail needs to be verified), and a one-time $15.00 Campaign vetting fee (per new campaign) will also apply. Rejected or Resubmitted Campaigns will be subject to the Campaign vetting fee each time.
Standard Vets are optional and are used to potentially gain access to higher throughput levels, or to help verify a brand. A Standard Vet is an automated review of compliance history, employee count etc. Standard vetting fee is $40.00.
Enhanced Vets are optional and are typically used if a user is unsatisfied with their Standard Vet score and believes a more thorough review would yield a higher score. An Enhanced Vet is a manual process that looks deeper into history, lawsuits, employee count etc. of the brand. Enhanced vetting fee is $95.00.
Additionally, there are monthly recurring fees for running campaigns, based on the use case, that is billed monthly for a 3-month term. Please see table below.
TCR Campaign Registration Costs
Non-Profit Organizations
Verified Non-Profit Brands with 501c3 status will be able to register Standard Use Cases in addition to "Charity" and "Emergency." Carrier terms for the "Charity" Use Case will also apply to other registered Standard Use Cases for these Brands.
Campaign Use Cases
- Standard Use Cases are immediately available for all 'Verified' Brands and do not require Vetting or pre/post-approval by MNOs.
- Special Use Cases are sensitive or critical in nature and may require Vetting or pre/post-registration approval by MNOs. Requirements may vary according to each MNO.
The following table gives a definition for each Use-Case and monthly fee:
| USE CASE | DESCRIPTION | MONTHLY FEES (3-Month Minimum) |
|---|---|---|
| 2FA | Any authentication, verification, or a one-time passcode. | $10.00 |
| Account Notifications | Standard notifications for account holders, relating to and being about an account. | $10.00 |
| Customer Care | All customer care interactions, including but not limited to account management and customer support | $10.00 |
| Delivery Notifications | Notification about the status of the delivery of a product or service. | $10.00 |
| Fraud Alert Messaging | Notifications regarding potentially fraudulent activity on a user's account. | $10.00 |
| Higher Education | Messaging created on behalf of Colleges or Universities, including School Districts and education institutions. This use case is NOT for the "free to the consumer" messaging model. | $10.00 |
| Low Volume Mixed* | For Brands that have multiple use cases and only need very low messaging throughput. Most companies can be served by 'Low Volume Mixed' use case, which includes less than 2,000 messages per day (T-Mobile) or 75 Texts Per Minute. Examples of Low Volume Mixed cases include demo accounts, and small businesses (single Hair Salon, Doctor's office, single Pizza shop, etc.). |
$1.50 |
| Marketing | Any communication that includes marketing and/or promotional content. | $10.00 |
| Mixed* | Any messaging campaign containing 2 to 5 standard use cases. | $10.00 |
| Polling and voting | The sending of surveys and polling/voting campaigns for non-political arenas. | $10.00 |
| Public Service Announcement | Informational messaging to raise an audience's awareness about important issues. | $10.00 |
| Security Alert | A notification that the security of a system, either software or hardware, has been compromised in some way and there is an action you need to take. | $10.00 |
| Agents and Franchises | Agents; franchises; local branches Post-registration approval by MNO is required for this Use Case. |
$30.00 |
| Carrier Exemptions | Exemption by Carrier Post-registration approval by MNO is required for this Use Case. |
$10.00 |
| Charity | Communications from a registered charity aimed at providing help and raising money for those in need. 501c3 Tax-Exempt Organizations only. Note: If registering as a Non-Profit with a 'Charity' Special Campaign Use Case, you must also use the EIN and Legal Company name that matches your Federal Government Registration as a Non-Profit, and you must have a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status to qualify as a Non-Profit Organization. |
$3.00 |
| Emergency | Notification services that are designed to support public safety/health during natural disasters, armed conflicts, pandemics, and other national or regional emergencies. Post-registration approval by MNO is required for this Use Case. |
$5.00 |
| Sweepstakes | All sweepstakes messaging Post-registration approval by MNO is required for this Use Case. |
$10.00 |
| Political (Election Campaigns) |
Part of an organized effort to influence the decision-making of a specific group. Available only to registered 501(c)(4/5/6) and Orgs 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. | $10.00 |
| Social | Communication between public figures/influencers and their communities. Examples include YouTube Influencers' alerts or Celebrity alerts. MNO pre-approved CSPs are eligible for this Use Case. |
$10.00 |
| Platform Free Trial | Platform Free Trial offers strict controls and MNO audit rights (MO opt-in). Only pre-approved CSPs are eligible for this Use Case. |
$0.00 |
Use Cases marked with an asterisk * in the table above will include up to 5 sub-categories that must be selected to qualify.
A2P/10DLC Non-Compliance Fines
T-Mobile's New Non-Compliance Fees for Code of Conduct Violations are listed below.
| VIOLATION TYPE | NON-COMPLIANCE FEE | VIOLATION DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Text Enablement | $10,000 | This pass-through fee applies if T-Mobile receives a complaint where you or your message sender text-enables a 10-digit NANP telephone number and sends messages prior to verification of message sender ownership. |
| 10DLC long code messaging program evasion | $1,000 | The pass-through fee will apply per-incident if a program is found to use evasion techniques such as snowshoeing, unauthorized number replacement, and dynamic routing. |
| Content violation | $10,000 | T-Mobile may charge this pass-through fee for each unique instance of the third or any subsequent notification of a content violation involving the same content provider. Defined as sending messages in violation of the rules in the code of conduct, and are usually SHAFT violations (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms or tobacco) but also includes spam or phishing, or messaging which meets the threshold of a severity 0 violation per the CTIA short-code monitoring handbook. |
Effective January 1, 2024, T-Mobile began instituting three new fees for non-compliant traffic that result in a Severity-0 violation.
A Sev-0 (Severity-0) represents the most harmful violation to consumers and applies to all products (SMS or MMS, Toll-Free, and 10DLC) that transverse T-Mobile's network.
The non-compliance fine(s) (USD) will be assessed for every Sev-0 violation issued as follows:
- Tier 1: $2,000 for phishing, smishing, and social engineering
- 'Social Engineering' refers to the practice of targeting individuals in a way that manipulates individuals to reveal confidential information like credit card numbers or social security numbers.
- Tier 2: $1,000 for illegal content (content included must be legal in all 50 states and federally legal).
- Illegal content includes, but is not limited to, Cannabis, Marijuana, CBD, Illegal Prescriptions, and Solicitation.
- Tier 3: $500 for all other violations including, but not limited to, SHAFT (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco) content.
If traffic continues to receive Sev-0 violations, carriers maintain the right to suspend a brand, remove access to their platforms, and may also block all messaging traffic. Therefore, you must ensure that all traffic leaving your network is wanted and compliant.
Please review the list below of all disallowed content:
| VIOLATION TYPE | EXAMPLES |
|---|---|
| High-Risk Financial Services | Payday Loans Non-Direct Lenders Debt Collection |
| Debt Forgiveness | Debt Consolidation Debt Reduction Credit Repair Programs |
| Illegal Substances | Cannabis Illegal Prescriptions |
| Work & Investment Opportunities | Work from Home Programs Job Alerts from 3rd Party Recruiting Firms Risk Investment Opportunities |
| Other | Gambling Any other illegal content Lead generation indicate the sharing of collected information with third parties Campaign types are not in compliance with the recommendations of or prohibited by the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook, Version 1.7, or later. Campaign types not in compliance with the recommendations of or prohibited by the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices-2019 version |
T-Mobile (including Sprint) has also announced the following A2P 10DLC Fee.
| SPECIAL REQUEST | FEE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Special business review request | $5,000 NRC per request | Applies to 10DLC edge cases outside of the regular 10DLC provisioning process which requires special approval and configuration on the T-Mobile network. For instance, use of proxy numbers (rideshare example), approval for sharing a 10DLC number, or very high capacity required by a brand more than what is normally required. |
Please review the 10DLC Registration and Toll-Free Verification Process Guide pages for more information.
