In news that was first reported by ACA International, a number of telecom carriers and aggregators have announced that companies will be required to use 10-digit telephone numbers, known as 10DLC, to send text messages to consumers starting July 5.
Companies will have to register their 10DLC numbers with the carriers and aggregators or face being blocked or paying higher fees to have their text messages delivered.
“Messages sent using unregistered phone numbers will be subject to a gradual increase of message blocking by Twilio, beginning on July 5, 2023, ultimately leading to a full block of all unregistered U.S.-bound messages sent after August 31, 2023,” Twilio announced.
Companies in the accounts receivable management industry have increasingly seen the text messages they send to consumers blocked by carriers and aggregators like Twilio. In some cases, the companies don’t even know that their messages are not being delivered. On their own, without any prompting or regulatory demand from the Federal Communications Commission, the carriers and aggregators are taking it upon themselves to protect their customers and consumers by blocking messages deemed to be spam or scams.
Along with blocking numbers that are not registered, the carriers have announced that text messages sent via unregistered numbers will be subject to higher fees than those sent through registered numbers. For Verizon, for example, the cost to send SMS messages
