Text Messaging
SMS/MMS Surcharges & More
Commio’s text messaging products support Application to Person (A2P) services.
Last Updated: November 1, 2024
Commio supports Application to Person (A2P) text messaging with only registered campaigns and numbers with its APIs and platform. Messaging is subject to provider surcharges, brand and campaign registration fees, and other charges as listed below. Commio passes these fees through to customers at no markup.
For domestic long code (10DLC), short code, toll-free, and international messaging services, the surcharges are based on the recipient carrier network. This surcharge fee is on a per message basis, and differs between recipient carrier networks. This fee is equal to the fee that customers pay for the origination (MO) and termination (MT) of messages to the destination network today.
Carrier surcharges are subject to change without notice and are based on actual surcharges billed to Commio by our Direct Connect Aggregators (DCA) and respective carriers. Billing and payment terms are governed by the terms set forth in your Commio MSA. To ensure transparency, this fee will appear as a separate line item on your invoice. We will not implement and subsequently pass this fee on unless the fee is passed to us on a carrier-by-carrier network basis.
For questions, message our 100% U.S.-based team via support@commio.com.
Text Messaging Prohibited Content (10DLC)
Forbidden use cases. Any message content that falls into one of the following categories is prohibited and can lead to suspension by the Mobile Network Operators (MNO’s) and possibly legal action by the FCC.
S - Sex (Pornography, human/sex trafficking, prostitution)
H – Hate (including but not limited to abuse, discrimination, violence, harassment)
A – Alcohol
F – Firearms (including ammunition)
T – Tobacco (including Vaping, Cannabis, & CBD products)
Additionally, these categories are also prohibited by the mobile carriers:
All personal loans (especially “Pay Day” loans)
3rd-party mortgage lending
3rd-party insurance
Loan/Debt Consolidation
Debt Forgiveness
Debt Collection
Credit Repair
Tax Refund Loans
Gambling/Casino
Multi-level Marketing/Pyramid Schemes
Malware, viruses, or other malicious content
Camp Lejuene toxic water class action
Campaign Registry Manual Review
Commio's primary upstream DCA (Direct Connect Aggregator) requires a manual review of all campaigns submitted through The Campaign Registry (TCR) for approval. This may cause new campaign starts to be delayed. You should build as much advance time as possible into your campaigns while we determine the length of any delays going forward. Our Direct Connect Aggregator charges $15 to vet each campaign, including each resubmission of a previously rejected campaign. If the carrier is required to do additional campaign vetting, a services engagement and associated fees may be required. You will be notified if this applies to your campaign(s).
Campaign Service Activation Fees: Sole Proprietor
Commio’s primary upstream DCA (Direct Connect Aggregator) does not support Sole Proprietor campaigns. They reserve the right to reevaluate Sole Proprietor campaigns in the future, which could result in the suspension of previously submitted Sole Proprietor campaigns.
Escalated Spam Review
Customers using 10DLC messaging services will be subject to increased fees and charges if their campaigns are subject to Escalated Spam Review by our direct carrier aggregator (DCA). The fees can be avoided if you and any sub-accounts following brand and campaign registration and content guidelines to avoid spam complaints; increase platform/service cybersecurity to prevent data breaches and hacker logins leading to the transmission of spam content; closely monitor opt-out rates and spam complaints and proactively pausing or deactivating suspicious campaigns in real time. The two DCA fees are as follows:
1. $500 Charge Per 10DLC Campaign Impacted by Escalated Spam Review
If one or more carriers request this review and it is discovered that our customer "has taken no action to deactivate the 10DLC campaign or associated brand prior to the review" this charge will apply. If our customer deactivates the campaign prior to the review, and this is reflected in The Campaign Registry (TCR) and verified by our DCA, the $500 charge will not apply.
2. $1,000 Incremental Surcharge Per Brand for Suspended or Deactivated Campaigns
If a brand has more than five (5) 10DLC campaigns suspended or deactivated due to an Escalated Spam review, the customer will be liable for an overage rate of $1,000 for each additional campaign that exceeds the included five (5) 10DLC campaigns per brand. These charges are in U.S. dollars and subject to change upon notice from Commio. Charges do not include applicable taxes or duties, which are the sole responsibility of our customer.
10DLC Long Code Messaging Program Evasion
The $1,000 pass-through fee (per incident) applies if a program is found to use evasion techniques like snowshoeing, unauthorized number replacement, and dynamic routing.
T-Mobile Non-Compliance Fines
T-Mobile will assess non-compliance fines applying to A2P messaging (not P2P meaning handset to handset) to encourage proper commercial messaging practices. Every incident identified as a Severity 0 will be subject to fines, assessed per the below tiers.
Tier 1: $2,000, for phishing, smishing, social engineering
Tier 2: $1,000, for illegal content (must be legal in all 50 states and federally)
Tier 3: $500, for all other violations including but not limited to SHAFT.
If you receive a Severity 0 audit the originator will be shut down on all US operators to prevent unwanted messages or SPAM. An RCA must be completed and once reviewed by the carrier, a decision will be made if the originator will be un-blocked. To avoid Severity 0 audits, you should follow all industry and carrier best practices. Ensure all of your A2P messaging traffic is compliant, messaging sent is what was registered, and password and security measures are frequently updated to reduce the risk of fraud.
T-Mobile NNID Registration
A $2,000 pass-through fee is charged where a customer requires creation and use of an NNID separate from our upstream provider's default NNID. To be used for new 10 DLC programs.
T-Mobile Text Enablement
A $10,000 pass-through fee applies if T-Mobile receives a complaint where you or your message sender text-enables a 10-digit NANP telephone number and sends messages prior to verification of message sender ownership and/or letter of authorization.
T-Mobile Content Violation
T-Mobile may charge a $10,000 fee for each unique instance of the third or any subsequent notification of a content violation involving the same content provider. Content violation is defined as sending messages in violation of the rules in the Code of Conduct, and are usually SHAFT violations (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco) but would also include spam or phishing, or messaging that meets the threshold of a Severity 0 violation per the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook.
T-Mobile Number Pool Configuration Fee
A one-time pass-through fee of $2,000 will be charged by T-Mobile for each number pool (more than 49 numbers per campaign) provisioned during the implementation process. Up to 10 Campaign ID's can be submitted at a time for a total T-Mobile charge of $20,000. The fee is charged per T-Mobile Campaign ID or Sub-ID. There are no support costs or additional costs payable to The Campaign Registry (TCR) but there are additional messaging costs associated with running 10DLC campaigns.
T-Mobile Inactive 10 DLC Campaigns
T-Mobile requires deactivation of all 10 DLC campaigns and associated long codes that do not support active message traffic during a rolling 60-day period. At least one long code must be associated with each campaign and support active message traffic during that period. If you are planning to use the campaign in the future, you must re-provision it. It is the responsibility of the customer who provisioned the 10-digit long code campaign and associated long code(s) to identify and de-provision the campaign and associated long code(s), once they are no longer in use.
T-Mobile Non-Use Fees
T-Mobile is initiating a recurring pass-through fee of $250 for any unused campaign, where at least one short code or long code associated with such campaign does not support active message traffic over a rolling sixty (60)-day period. Campaigns without at least one associated long code and no active message traffic since December 1st, 2022, are eligible for the fee, and on a rolling basis thereafter. For technical questions or troubleshooting, please contact support@commio.com and a member of our support team will get back to you.
Commio no longer accepts unregistered messaging traffic for long-code (10DLC), toll-free, or short code. Unregistered rates are for reference only.
Canadian surcharges stated in USD. Actual surcharges will be based on then-current exchange rates as billed by the carriers.
Toll-Free Registration Requirements
All unverified toll-free phone numbers being used for text messaging requires registration. These verification efforts, along with increased message filtering, help us combat spam and create a trusted messaging ecosystem for you and your customers. Any blocked messages will return an Error 1160. It can take up to three weeks to verify pending numbers, so time is of the essence to minimize the impact on your operations. Our Commio team is here to help!
Canadian surcharges stated in USD. Actual surcharges will be based on then-current exchange rates as billed by the carriers.
Commio supports Application to Person (A2P) text messaging with only registered campaigns and numbers with its APIs and platform. Messaging is subject to provider surcharges, brand and campaign registration fees, and other charges as listed below. Commio passes these fees through to customers at no markup.
For domestic long code (10DLC), short code, toll-free, and international messaging services, the surcharges are based on the recipient carrier network. This surcharge fee is on a per message basis, and differs between recipient carrier networks. This fee is equal to the fee that customers pay for the origination (MO) and termination (MT) of messages to the destination network today.
Carrier surcharges are subject to change without notice and are based on actual surcharges billed to Commio by our Direct Connect Aggregators (DCA) and respective carriers. Billing and payment terms are governed by the terms set forth in your Commio MSA. To ensure transparency, this fee will appear as a separate line item on your invoice. We will not implement and subsequently pass this fee on unless the fee is passed to us on a carrier-by-carrier network basis.
For questions, message our 100% U.S.-based team via support@commio.com.
$0.10 Monthly Recurring Cost (MRC) |
Applied for each registered brand. $4 One Time Per Submission |
$10 Monthly Fee Per Campaign With Exception of Low Volume Mixed $1.50 Monthly Fee Per Campaign |
Varies See below. |
$15 One-Time Charge Per Campaign Required |
Standard, Enhanced $40, $95 Campaign Vetting Expedited $50 One-Time Charge Per Campaign (Not Required) |
Low Volume UCaaS | $1.50 monthly |
Charity | $3 monthly |
Emergency | $5 monthly |
Sole Proprietor | Unsupported |
Agents & Franchises | $30 monthly |
All Other Campaigns | $10 monthly |
Text Messaging Prohibited Content (10DLC)
Forbidden use cases. Any message content that falls into one of the following categories is prohibited and can lead to suspension by the Mobile Network Operators (MNO’s) and possibly legal action by the FCC.
S - Sex (Pornography, human/sex trafficking, prostitution)
H – Hate (including but not limited to abuse, discrimination, violence, harassment)
A – Alcohol
F – Firearms (including ammunition)
T – Tobacco (including Vaping, Cannabis, & CBD products)
Additionally, these categories are also prohibited by the mobile carriers:
All personal loans (especially “Pay Day” loans)
3rd-party mortgage lending
3rd-party insurance
Loan/Debt Consolidation
Debt Forgiveness
Debt Collection
Credit Repair
Tax Refund Loans
Gambling/Casino
Multi-level Marketing/Pyramid Schemes
Malware, viruses, or other malicious content
Camp Lejuene toxic water class action
Campaign Registry Manual Review
Commio's primary upstream DCA (Direct Connect Aggregator) requires a manual review of all campaigns submitted through The Campaign Registry (TCR) for approval. This may cause new campaign starts to be delayed. You should build as much advance time as possible into your campaigns while we determine the length of any delays going forward. Our Direct Connect Aggregator charges $15 to vet each campaign, including each resubmission of a previously rejected campaign. If the carrier is required to do additional campaign vetting, a services engagement and associated fees may be required. You will be notified if this applies to your campaign(s).
Campaign Service Activation Fees: Sole Proprietor
Commio’s primary upstream DCA (Direct Connect Aggregator) does not support Sole Proprietor campaigns. They reserve the right to reevaluate Sole Proprietor campaigns in the future, which could result in the suspension of previously submitted Sole Proprietor campaigns.
Escalated Spam Review
Customers using 10DLC messaging services will be subject to increased fees and charges if their campaigns are subject to Escalated Spam Review by our direct carrier aggregator (DCA). The fees can be avoided if you and any sub-accounts following brand and campaign registration and content guidelines to avoid spam complaints; increase platform/service cybersecurity to prevent data breaches and hacker logins leading to the transmission of spam content; closely monitor opt-out rates and spam complaints and proactively pausing or deactivating suspicious campaigns in real time. The two DCA fees are as follows:
1. $500 Charge Per 10DLC Campaign Impacted by Escalated Spam Review
If one or more carriers request this review and it is discovered that our customer "has taken no action to deactivate the 10DLC campaign or associated brand prior to the review" this charge will apply. If our customer deactivates the campaign prior to the review, and this is reflected in The Campaign Registry (TCR) and verified by our DCA, the $500 charge will not apply.
2. $1,000 Incremental Surcharge Per Brand for Suspended or Deactivated Campaigns
If a brand has more than five (5) 10DLC campaigns suspended or deactivated due to an Escalated Spam review, the customer will be liable for an overage rate of $1,000 for each additional campaign that exceeds the included five (5) 10DLC campaigns per brand. These charges are in U.S. dollars and subject to change upon notice from Commio. Charges do not include applicable taxes or duties, which are the sole responsibility of our customer.
10DLC Long Code Messaging Program Evasion
The $1,000 pass-through fee (per incident) applies if a program is found to use evasion techniques like snowshoeing, unauthorized number replacement, and dynamic routing.
T-Mobile Non-Compliance Fines
T-Mobile will assess non-compliance fines applying to A2P messaging (not P2P meaning handset to handset) to encourage proper commercial messaging practices. Every incident identified as a Severity 0 will be subject to fines, assessed per the below tiers.
Tier 1: $2,000, for phishing, smishing, social engineering
Tier 2: $1,000, for illegal content (must be legal in all 50 states and federally)
Tier 3: $500, for all other violations including but not limited to SHAFT.
If you receive a Severity 0 audit the originator will be shut down on all US operators to prevent unwanted messages or SPAM. An RCA must be completed and once reviewed by the carrier, a decision will be made if the originator will be un-blocked. To avoid Severity 0 audits, you should follow all industry and carrier best practices. Ensure all of your A2P messaging traffic is compliant, messaging sent is what was registered, and password and security measures are frequently updated to reduce the risk of fraud.
T-Mobile NNID Registration
A $2,000 pass-through fee is charged where a customer requires creation and use of an NNID separate from our upstream provider's default NNID. To be used for new 10 DLC programs.
T-Mobile Text Enablement
A $10,000 pass-through fee applies if T-Mobile receives a complaint where you or your message sender text-enables a 10-digit NANP telephone number and sends messages prior to verification of message sender ownership and/or letter of authorization.
T-Mobile Content Violation
T-Mobile may charge a $10,000 fee for each unique instance of the third or any subsequent notification of a content violation involving the same content provider. Content violation is defined as sending messages in violation of the rules in the Code of Conduct, and are usually SHAFT violations (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco) but would also include spam or phishing, or messaging that meets the threshold of a Severity 0 violation per the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook.
T-Mobile Number Pool Configuration Fee
A one-time pass-through fee of $2,000 will be charged by T-Mobile for each number pool (more than 49 numbers per campaign) provisioned during the implementation process. Up to 10 Campaign ID's can be submitted at a time for a total T-Mobile charge of $20,000. The fee is charged per T-Mobile Campaign ID or Sub-ID. There are no support costs or additional costs payable to The Campaign Registry (TCR) but there are additional messaging costs associated with running 10DLC campaigns.
T-Mobile Inactive 10 DLC Campaigns
T-Mobile requires deactivation of all 10 DLC campaigns and associated long codes that do not support active message traffic during a rolling 60-day period. At least one long code must be associated with each campaign and support active message traffic during that period. If you are planning to use the campaign in the future, you must re-provision it. It is the responsibility of the customer who provisioned the 10-digit long code campaign and associated long code(s) to identify and de-provision the campaign and associated long code(s), once they are no longer in use.
T-Mobile Non-Use Fees
T-Mobile is initiating a recurring pass-through fee of $250 for any unused campaign, where at least one short code or long code associated with such campaign does not support active message traffic over a rolling sixty (60)-day period. Campaigns without at least one associated long code and no active message traffic since December 1st, 2022, are eligible for the fee, and on a rolling basis thereafter. For technical questions or troubleshooting, please contact support@commio.com and a member of our support team will get back to you.
Messages Received | Messages Sent | Messages Received | Messages Sent | |
US Cellular | N/A | 0.005 | N/A | 0.01 |
Verizon (Visible) |
N/A | 0.00305 Registered 0.01005 Unregistered |
N/A | 0.0052 Registered 0.0052 Unregistered |
AT&T (Cricket, Cingular) |
0.003 Registered Unregistered 0.01 |
0.003 Registered Unregistered 0.01 |
0.0075 Registered Unregistered 0.015 |
0.0075 Registered Unregistered 0.015 |
T-Mobile (Sprint, MetroPCS) |
0.003 Registered Unregistered 0.011 0.012 12/1 |
0.003 Registered Unregistered 0.011 0.012 12/1 |
0.010 Registered Unregistered 0.020 0.021 12/1 |
0.01 Registered Unregistered 0.02 0.021 12/1 |
All Others | N/A | 0.0064 | N/A | 0.015 |
Commio no longer accepts unregistered messaging traffic for long-code (10DLC), toll-free, or short code. Unregistered rates are for reference only.
Messages Received | Messages Sent | Messages Received | Messages Sent | |
Bell Mobility Cellular, Inc. | 0.015 | 0.015 | 0.03 | 0.03 |
Fido Solutions, Inc. | 0.00814 | 0.00814 | 0.01628 | 0.01628 |
Rogers Comm. Canada, Inc. | 0.00814 | 0.00814 | N/A | N/A |
Telus Communications, Inc. | 0.00592 0.0074 11/1 |
0.00592 0.0074 11/1 |
0.015 11/1 | 0.015 11/1 |
Videotron Ltd. | 0.00518 | 0.00518 | N/A | N/A |
All Others | N/A | 0.0064 | N/A | 0.015 |
Toll-Free Registration Requirements
All unverified toll-free phone numbers being used for text messaging requires registration. These verification efforts, along with increased message filtering, help us combat spam and create a trusted messaging ecosystem for you and your customers. Any blocked messages will return an Error 1160. It can take up to three weeks to verify pending numbers, so time is of the essence to minimize the impact on your operations. Our Commio team is here to help!
Messages Received | Messages Sent | Messages Received | Messages Sent | |
US Cellular | 0.0025 | 0.0025 | 0.005 | 0.005 |
Verizon (Visible) |
N/A | 0.003 | N/A | 0.005 |
AT&T (Cricket, Cingular) |
0.003 | 0.003 | 0.0075 | 0.0075 |
T-Mobile (Sprint, MetroPCS) |
0.003 | 0.003 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
All Others | N/A | 0.0064 | N/A | 0.01 |
Messages Received | Messages Sent | Messages Received | Messages Sent | |
Bell | N/A | 0.009 | N/A | 0.0325 |
Rogers & Fido | N/A | 0.0072 | N/A | 0.016 |
Telus | N/A | 0.006 | N/A | 0.008 |
Videotron | N/A | 0.0055 | N/A | 0.0055 |
All Others | N/A | 0.0064 | N/A | 0.01 |
Messages Received | Messages Sent | Messages Received | Messages Sent | |
US Cellular | N/A | 0.0035 | N/A | 0.01 |
Verizon (Visible) |
N/A | 0.003 | N/A | 0.005 |
AT&T (Cricket, Cingular) |
N/A | 0.003 | N/A | 0.0075 |
T-Mobile (Sprint, MetroPCS) |
0.0025 | 0.0025 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
All Others | 0.0025 | 0.0035 | 0.005 | 0.005 |
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