Carrier Surcharges
In addition to our message segment charge, there are surcharges assessed by the mobile carriers that we will pass through to you as a customer. To view the current pass through charges, click here.
A message segment is 160 characters.
Toll free numbers have a separate SMS/MMS compliance mechanism. 10DLC Surcharges do not apply.
Registered and Unregistered Traffic
Surcharges are assessed at different rates for Registered and Unregistered messaging traffic.
- Registered traffic: Business messages sent from a 10DLC number with a valid campaign assigned
- Unregistered traffic: Business messages sent from a 10DLC number that is not associated with a campaign (or the campaign has been suspended.)
Mobile carriers simply will not deliver any message to their mobile customers that does not have a valid campaign assigned. They assess an Unregistered Traffic surcharge for each unregistered message segment they receive.
Surcharges are Increasing Regularly
In 2024, mobile carriers began assessing surcharges on inbound traffic, whereas previously the surcharges affected outbound traffic only.
Additionally, surcharges are increasing regularly. For example, between August and December 2024, you can expect T-Mobile to increase their surcharges for unregistered traffic by $0.002 per message segment. All mobile carriers are continuing to increase their surcharge rates.
Can I avoid these surcharges?
All SMS and MMS traffic is eligible for the surcharges and cannot be avoided. We do not mark up these fees on your bill–we only pass them through.
You can avoid surcharges for unregistered 10DLC traffic. Make sure your messaging numbers have a valid campaign assigned.
What are Carrier Fines?
Carriers will assess fines for messaging program evasion and content violations.
-
- Messaging Program Evasion: These are efforts to avoid the Messaging Program Standards, such as snowshoeing, unauthorized number replacement, and dynamic routing. The fine is $1,000 per incident. Additionally, the messaging campaign used in the snowshoeing can also be placed under suspension. The Brand may also be suspended.
-
- Content Violations: This includes phishing, spam, Social Engineering (where someone is manipulated into sharing private information like credit card numbers or passwords) and SHAFT-C (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Cannabis) content violations. Messaging traffic from the offending phone number is blocked, campaigns and brands can be suspended, and the fine depends on the Tier of violation ranging from $500 to $2,000 per violation.
-
- Sev-0 or Severity-0 Violation: Content that meets the threshold of a Sev-0 violation can be fined $10,000 per violation. Warnings are issued which we will receive and pass on to you so that you can identify the sender and take action. This gives you an opportunity to bring your customer into compliance. 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 CTIA standards.
What are Campaign Non-Use Fees?
T-Mobile will assess a $250 fee to any owner of a Campaign that has not sent active traffic to a T-Mobile handset for 60 consecutive days. This fee will be passed down through the messaging ecosystem to our carrier which we will pass through to your bill.
Other mobile carriers have not implemented non-use fees at this time. We recommend that you develop a procedure of keeping phone numbers assigned to your campaign to avoid possible fines. We advise that once your campaign is approved, that you promptly assign your customer’s phone number and begin messaging.
What does this mean for you?
-
- These carrier surcharges are fractions of pennies; however, we know they add up.
- You can avoid many surcharges and fines by implementing proper campaign procedures into your onboarding process..
- To decrease surcharge costs, make sure your customers only send messaging traffic from 10DLC numbers with a valid campaign assigned.
- Follow Know Your Customer best practices during your customer onboarding.
- Educate your customers on business messaging expectations and content violations.
How Do I Get More Information?
If you have questions or concerns about these impacts on your messaging service, please contact us at support@inventivelabs.com.
To explore how your business could benefit from adding a messaging service to your platform, see our articles Voice Elements SMS and SMS Via REST API. See also our SMS REST API Reference Guide.
Let us know how we can help you leverage this powerful communication tool!