What is Carrier Registration?

Carrier registration requirements were created in 2021 following passage of the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act.

Mobile service providers now require every entity that sends SMS messages to self-register with The Campaign Registry. Carrier campaign requirements are subject to change at anytime.

What is the Campaign Registry?

The Campaign Registry is the sole entity that is authorized by mobile network operators to maintain a database of approved SMS campaigns.

Interfacing directly with the mobile network operators, TCR maintains a database of approved campaigns, allowing mobile network operators to better filter all messages sent as part of any given campaign, as well as the associated entity.

Registration Requirements

The following information is required to register:

  • Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  • Legal Entity Name
  • Contact Person
  • Physical Address
  • Website

Carrier Restrictions

Carrier Limits
Level SMS / Min MMS / Min Daily Limit
Standard 75 50 2000
Dedicated 4,500 2,400 UNCAPPED

Registration Fees

All registered campaigns must be by verifiable government entities.

Registration and Vetting $250 one-time

Standard Campaign $120 yearly

Dedicated Campaign $250 yearly

At least one registered campaign is required per customer.

Multiple campaigns can be registered for customers with high volume and/or time sensitive messaging requirements.

Approved Use Cases

2FA: Any one-time use passcode, authentication, or verification.

Account Notifications: Standard notifications for account holders.

Customer Care: Customer interactions, including account management and customer support.

Delivery Notifications: Status of delivery of a product or service.

Fraud Alert Messaging: Notifications about potentially fraudulent activity on a user's account.

Low Volume Mixed: Brands that have multiple use cases but only need very low messaging throughput.

Mixed: Any messaging campaign containing 2 to 5 standard use cases.

Polling and Voting: The sending of surveys and polling/voting campaigns in non-political arenas.

Public Service Announcement: Informational messaging to raise an audience's awareness about important issues.

Security Alert: Notification that the security of a system, either software or hardware, has been compromised and action is needed.

Group messaging: Peer-to-peer group messaging and/or supporting personalized services with non-exposure of personnel numbers for the organization.

Emergency services: Public Safety notifications are designed to support public safety/health during natural disasters, armed conflicts, pandemics, and other national or regional emergencies.

Political messaging: Part of an organized effort to influence the decision-making of a specific group. All campaigns must be verified. If an organization is a 501 (c)(3), it should register under the charity class. If a 527 organization needs to register, it should register with Campaign Verify to receive a token that can then be input on the Carrier Registration page in order to register a political campaign. 

Throughput

If you'd like to receive higher throughput, additional vetting by TCR may be required.

Vetting Providers

Third-Party Vetting Providers are organizations approved by the Campaign Registry to vet TCR campaigns. These organizations are:

  • Aegis Mobile
  • WMC Global
  • CampaignVerify

Carrier Spam Filtering

Carriers may filter messages as spam regardless of campaign registration status.

The following may cause a carrier to filter a message as spam:

  • Unbranded shortened links that don't match with the customer's domain
  • Links placed at the end of the message
  • ALL CAPS content
  • Special or unrecognized characters
  • Multiple identical / non-personalized messages
  • Testing messages from a live campaign
  • Unusually short or long messages
  • Robotic, misspelled, or grammatically incorrect sentences

eCourtDate is an approved Campaign Service Provider with The Campaign Registry.

Supported Carriers

AT&T Supported Carrier
T-Mobile Supported Carrier
Verizon Supported Carrier
ClearSKY Supported Carrier
InterOP Supported Carrier
US Cellular Supported Carrier
Cricket Mobile Supported Carrier
Xfinity Mobile Supported Carrier
Dish Network Boost Mobile Supported Carrier
Tracfone Wireless Supported Carrier
Republic Wireless Supported Carrier
FreedomPop Supported Carrier
Consumer Cellular Supported Carrier
US Mobile Supported Carrier
Spectrum Mobile Supported Carrier

Supported Gateways

Twilio Gateway Support
Bandwidth Gateway Support
Telnyx Gateway Support

What should I expect after my registration has been submitted?

After submitting the registration form, most campaigns should be approved within 3-5 business days. Others may take several weeks for approval due to particular use cases or the backlog at The Campaign Registry and other third-party entities. To minimize delays, be as accurate and complete as possible in your submission.

Registration involves an automated review of your company information (Brand registration), a manual review of your messaging details (Campaign registration), and STIR/SHAKEN registration to prevent mislabeling of your calls as spam.

Your application status will display as Pending, Approved, or Rejected. If rejected, verify your details and resubmit or seek help. Once approved, your agency and numbers are registered, helping ensure message delivery and lower chances of your calls being labeled as spam. Future numbers added will automatically be tied to your registration, and you can track your application's progress in settings.

To avoid spam blocks, we recommend the following best practices:

  • Apply for vetting or register for a higher-level campaign.
  • Be detailed in the "Messaging Description" section of the registration with exactly how the campaign will be used.
  • Use your official ".gov" domain.
  • Ensure your contacts are valid.
  • Send a welcome message with an option to opt out, including your agency's name (exactly as it is listed on the registration) and the keyword STOP.
  • Add a page on your official website explaining your messaging program and include any phone numbers that are used.
  • Ensure that any phone numbers used in the messages are registered to your campaign.

What if my messages are marked as spam even though my campaign is approved?

Carriers are able to filter messages even once the carrier registry approves your campaign. If you are an eCourtDate user, we will notify you immediately if you've been blocked by the carriers and automatically resend failures with an alternate campaign. If you are not an eCourtDate user, contact your messaging gateway to let them know you have been blocked.

Porting numbers to eCourtDate

Port your existing numbers to eCourtdate by filling out the Letter of Agency Form:

eCourtDate in the Media