10DLC - Brand requirements

Quick access:

• Sole proprietor brands
• Government brands
• Non-profit brands
• Private profit & public profit brands

Under 10DLC, there are a few requirements relative to what brands represent:

• All Application to Person (A2P) messages sent to U.S. subscribers must originate from a phone number that can be traced back to a single legal entity. This includes Toll-Free Numbers (TFN) and Short Codes (SC). Shared short codes are not allowed anymore.
• A 10DLC brand can only represent a single legal entity.
• Resellers must register a reseller ID and assign it to the campaigns they register on behalf of other legal entities.
• Brands must be genuine, verification requirements apply when registering 10DLC campaigns.

You can use this flowchart to determine the correct type of brand you need to register for your entity:

Sole proprietor brands

Sole proprietor brands are under very strict scrutiny from the carriers. A lot of restrictions apply to those brands:

• Sole Proprietor (SP) brands must be based in the USA or Canada
• Companies that have an EIN number (or TAX ID) cannot register a Sole Proprietor brand
• SP brands cannot be externally vetted, and cannot increase their campaign's throughput
• SP brands are limited to a single active "sole proprietor" campaign use-case
• SP campaigns are limited to link single phone number (LVN)
• SP brands must now go through 2 data validation steps to get verified:
  
  • 1-Data validation (phone numbers, emails, addresses...)
  • 2-OTP phone number verification

When registering a sole proprietor brand, The Campaign Registry (TCR) will ensure that:

• The company name, first and last name does not contain gibberish data
• The physical address provided is a valid existing U.S. or Canadian address
• The email address is a valid, non-disposable address
• The mobile phone number is a valid, active, U.S or Canadian mobile phone number

Government brands

The government entity type is strictly limited to U.S. government entities.

For agencies or governmental entities from any other country, please register a non-profit brand.

Non-profit brands

Non-profit brands are for a variety of entities, ranging from non-U.S. governmental agencies to NGOs, religious organizations and political parties.

The Campaign Registry (TCR) will sometimes assign a tag to a 10DLC brand (following the basic verification) to allow specific known brands to register special campaign use-cases:

• Political parties may register political campaigns (requires 501c4 tag)
• Charities may register charity campaigns (requires 501c3 tag)

If TCR fails to add a tag to your brand, you will need to apply for an external vetting:

• Political vetting for political campaigns
• Standard or Enhanced vetting for any other campaigns

Private profit & public profit brands

Public profit brands are required to provide their stock symbol and the specific stock market where they are listed.