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10DLC and What it Means for Business SMS/Texting

12/1/2024 Updates
- On February 1st, 2025, mobile carriers will be blocking all unregistered A2P (application to peer) 10DLC (10-digit long code) SMS phone numbers from sending texts. The previous deadline of 12/1/2024 was deferred until this new date.
- Sole proprietors are now required to have a valid IRS EIN number to apply for 10DLC Brand and Campaigns.
11/8/2023 Update
- Toll free numbers (TFNs) require full vetting and verification before texting capability can be enabled. Previously, texting capability was available right after port without full verification (with limits). Vetting process is done by Twilio/Zipwhip which takes on average 4 weeks (reduced from previous 6-8 weeks).
10/6/2023 Updates
- Update 1: A compliant privacy policy is now required for any type of business, except SOLE PROPRIETORS.
- Update 2: For "Provisional Compliance", throughput is no longer limited to 2k per day. Throughput limits are now 25 messages per minute (a message consisting of 160 characters or less). For example, if you want to send a Broadcast to 5000 contacts, it should take about 3.3 hours.
- Update 3: 10DLC approval ETA has now increased from 2 weeks to 4-6 weeks for each review and approval. With Alive5, we have a solution which allows you to start texting within 24-72 hours (assuming your website, opt-in language, and privacy policy is compliant).
8/1/2023 Updates
- On September 1st, 2023, mobile carriers will be blocking all unregistered A2P (application to peer) 10DLC (10-digit long code) SMS phone numbers from sending texts.
What is 10DLC?
10DLC, or 10-digit long code, is a channel created by mobile carriers for business-to-consumer (A2P) messaging over local landline phone numbers. There’s a good chance you’ve already been using one of these numbers for business texting, but until recently, they were only intended for person-to-person (P2P) SMS traffic between family and friends.
Because texting over local landline phone numbers has grown increasingly popular over the past few years, along with recent upticks in fraud, phishing and spam texts, U.S. carriers want to make sure it stays that way - a channel customers can trust, that’s free of spam and unsolicited communications.
To accomplish that goal, carriers have together adopted a set of standards and registration processes for 10DLC numbers to better understand who is using 10DLC for A2P and what they’re sending across the network.
10DLC Compliance Process with Alive5

To ensure the best texting experience and deliverability for your business and your customers, 10DLC registration is included with your Alive5 service.
Here's the 5 basic phases:
- Complete 10DLC Form & Verify Phone Numbers - this is a web form we send your organization which asks for your contact information, business address, EIN and legal business name, and website presence. Additionally, you will be able to verify your existing office phone lines for SMS enablement. Refer to this article which details the
4 Key Requirements for 10DLC Compliance.
estimated time: 10 minutes - Alive5 Team Review - your application is reviewed within 24 hours and changes needed to your EIN, website, contact form, or privacy policy will be indicated. This "preliminary" review done by Alive5 is to prepare you for the final review with the DCA which may take 4 weeks or more for each round of revisions.
estimated time: 24-72 hours
2a. Corrections needed - Once the changes are made from your side, resubmit your application for another round of reviews.
estimations based on your time and resources - Provisional Compliance - You will be able to send and receive texts with restrictions (25 messages per minute, and possible MMS attachment/URL/link filtering). Provisional Compliance is unique to Alive5 most providers do not allow you to start texting until your 10DLC compliance is fully reviewed and approved. To start texting during Provisional Compliance is optional - some organizations prefer to start texting only after Full 10DLC Compliance.
- DCA Review - after Alive5 staff reviewal process, we submit your application to the DCA. After about 4 weeks or more, your Brand and Campaign is reviewed by a DCA representative. If your EIN, website, contact form, or privacy policy needs changes, application will be rejected.
This will not affect your ability to use SMS (with Provisional Compliance restrictions noted above). Similar to step 3, after you make the changes required, you application is resubmitted to the DCA for another round of reviews which may take another 4 weeks or more.
estimated time: 4 weeks or more - Full 10DLC Compliance - Once your EIN, website, contact form, or privacy policy is fully compliant per the DCA, your 10DLC registration is complete. You won't encounter any restrictions on throughput or filtering of links. You can now start using mass texting/broadcasts as well at higher throughputs.
Glossary:
- The Campaign Registry (TCR) - the 10DLC compliance platform which handles registrations from brands and A2P SMS use cases.
- Direct Connect Aggregator (DCA) - the organization that reviews every 10DLC registration by hand and routes traffic between the mobile networks to our SMS provider.
- Mobile Networks - AT&T™, T-Mobile™, Verizon™, etc. who delivers SMS traffic from the DCA to end user's cell phones.
- SMS Provider - Alive5's upstream texting provider who works with the TCR and DCA to assist in getting your 10DLC compliance and SMS traffic delivered from the DCA to the mobile networks.
Once you've created your Alive5 account, refer to the article:
The 4 Key Requirements for 10DLC Compliance.
💡 To see how Alive5 can help your organization today, book a demo with us.





