A2P 10DLC registration
If your business texts customers in the United States from a standard phone number, US mobile carriers require you to register that number first. The programme is called A2P 10DLC. Here is what it means and what it involves.
What A2P 10DLC actually means
| A2P | Application-to-Person. Messages sent by a business system — your phone platform, your booking software, your dispatch tool — rather than typed by one person on a handset. Almost all business texting is A2P, even when a member of staff writes it. |
| 10DLC | 10-Digit Long Code. An ordinary ten-digit phone number, like the one already on your van and your invoices — as opposed to a five-digit short code or a toll-free number. |
Put together, A2P 10DLC is the programme the US mobile carriers — AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon — use to identify legitimate business messaging sent from normal phone numbers. Before it existed, business texting on ordinary numbers was indistinguishable from spam, so carriers filtered it heavily. Registration tells them who you are and what you send.
Where the registration goes
Registrations are submitted to The Campaign Registry, the central database the US carriers use for A2P 10DLC. Loopcom submits on your behalf; the carriers make the decisions.
The two registrations
1. Brand — who you are
Your legal business name, business address, tax identification number (EIN), website and a contact person. These are verified against public records, so they must match what is officially registered for your business rather than the name on your signage.
Brand registration produces a trust score. A well-established business with consistent public records scores higher, and a higher score means the carriers allow you to send at a faster rate.
2. Campaign — what you send
Your use case: appointment reminders, order and delivery updates, customer service, account notifications, marketing, or a mix. You provide sample messages, and you describe how customers opt in and how they opt out. Each distinct use case is registered as its own campaign.
How fast you can send
A2P 10DLC sets a limit on how many messages per minute you may send to each carrier. That limit comes from your brand’s trust score and your registered campaign type — it is not something your provider chooses. For most businesses sending reminders and updates it is never a constraint; if you plan to send in large batches, tell us and we will size it with you.
Who does what
| Step | Handled by |
|---|---|
| Submitting brand registration to The Campaign Registry | Loopcom |
| Submitting campaign registration for your use case | Loopcom |
| Supplying accurate business details and EIN | You |
| Providing opt-in wording and sample messages | You |
| Collecting consent from the people you text | You |
| Honouring opt-outs and answering HELP | Handled by the platform |
| Approving brand, campaign and trust score | The mobile carriers |
What gets messages filtered or blocked
Even with a registered campaign, carriers continue to filter traffic. These are the things that cause it:
- Messaging people who have not agreed to hear from you
- Continuing to message someone after they replied STOP
- Sending content that does not match your registered campaign — marketing on a campaign registered for appointment reminders, for example
- Categories carriers prohibit outright, including high-risk lending, unlawful goods and certain debt-related offers
- Business details in the brand registration that do not match public records
- Sending faster than your registered throughput allows
Timing and cost
Brand registration is usually quick. Campaign review takes longer and is genuinely reviewed rather than rubber-stamped — a campaign that is rejected has to be corrected and resubmitted, which adds time. We start the process early in your setup so it is not what holds up your go-live date.
The carriers and The Campaign Registry charge registration and per-campaign fees, and carriers apply a per-message fee to A2P traffic. These are pass-through costs that exist with every provider. Your quote sets them out so there are no surprises on the first bill.
Toll-free numbers work differently
A2P 10DLC applies to standard ten-digit numbers. Toll-free numbers use a separate carrier verification process instead, with different throughput characteristics. If you text from a toll-free number, or are considering one, tell us and we will explain which route suits what you are sending.
Planning to text your customers?
Tell us what you want to send and we will include messaging and the A2P 10DLC registration in your quote.