A2P 10DLC — Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code
What is A2P 10DLC?
A2P 10DLC is the US and Canada carrier program for application-to-person SMS sent from standard 10-digit long-code numbers. Carriers require every business sender to register a brand and a campaign (“use case”) before long-code traffic is allowed through at full throughput — unregistered traffic is heavily filtered or blocked. Registration sets your per-message throughput and trust score, and applies once per brand and per campaign, not per message.
More detail
Registration happens in two steps: a brand (your verified legal business identity) and then one or more campaigns describing a category of messaging — marketing, 2FA/OTP, or account notifications, for example. Each campaign carries its own throughput and carrier trust score.
10DLC is specific to the US and Canada. Other countries use alphanumeric sender IDs, short codes, or their own registration schemes instead — see Sender ID.
Frequently asked
- Do I need to register for 10DLC to send SMS in the US?
- Yes, if you send application-to-person SMS from a standard 10-digit long code number to US recipients. Unregistered long-code traffic is heavily throttled or blocked by carriers under the 10DLC program.
- How long does 10DLC brand registration take?
- Most brands clear within minutes once submitted, since the registry vets the legal business details against public records automatically. A mismatch flags for manual review, which can take a few business days.
See also
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