A2P 10DLC Throughput and Trust Scores in Sparkforge

A2P 10DLC governs how 10-digit long code SMS is sent to US mobile subscribers. Throughput, measured in message segments per second (MPS), is set by your Brand type, your Campaign use case, and a Trust Score assigned to Standard Brands during registration.

T-Mobile separately enforces daily message limits to its subscribers. Those limits are independent of MPS. See the T-Mobile daily message limits reference for details.

Throughput overview

An MPS is one message segment per second. A segment is up to 160 GSM-7 encoded characters. Longer messages or non-GSM characters use multiple segments.

Pre-A2P 10DLC, US long codes ran at a flat 1 MPS per number across all carriers. Under 10DLC, throughput is allocated by Brand type, Campaign type, and Trust Score (for Standard Brands).

What is a Trust Score?

The Campaign Registry (TCR) administers US wireless carriers' 10DLC registration. When a Standard Brand is submitted, Sparkforge also submits it for secondary vetting, which produces a 0-100 score and gates higher default throughput.

Higher Trust Score equals higher MPS. Sole Proprietor and Low Volume Brands skip secondary vetting and have no Trust Score; their throughput is fixed by use case. Trust Scores are static and do not auto-update over time.

Why scores come back low

• Data discrepancies between submitted info and the official business registration (for example, a different address than the EIN on file).
• Small brand footprint. Smaller and newer organizations score lower.

If you receive a low score, contact Sparkforge support for guidance. For resubmission steps, see the Resubmitting Standard/LVS Brands documentation.

How MPS is allocated

Each registered campaign has a maximum MPS shared across all US/Canada long code numbers in that campaign and all wireless carriers. Splitting traffic across more numbers does not raise the limit.

Account Based Rate Limiting sits on top: a single account-wide MPS cap applies across all senders. Three campaigns at 75 MPS each on a 100 MPS account ceiling still combine to 100 MPS; segments above that queue rather than fail.

Declared Campaigns (a single non-marketing use case) generally receive higher MPS than Mixed or Marketing campaigns at the same Trust Score.

Declared use case throughput

US Cellular tracks major-network throughput up to a maximum of 8 MPS. Other minor carriers (under 5% market share) cap at 1 MPS per phone number.

Mixed / Marketing use case throughput

Low Volume Mixed has a lower monthly fee than a standard campaign but is fixed at the lowest tier regardless of Trust Score.

Sole Proprietor throughput

Sole Proprietor Brands fit individuals and small businesses without a tax ID sending low-volume messaging. Limits: 1 Campaign, 1 phone number per Campaign, 1 MPS, 1000 messages per day to T-Mobile, 15 messages per minute to AT&T per Campaign. There is no Trust Score. Step up to a Standard Brand if you need more throughput.

Toll-Free SMS

Toll-Free SMS is not affected by these throughput rules and does not use Campaign Registration. A US Toll-Free number defaults to 3 MPS combined across US and Canada carriers. Higher Toll-Free throughput requires a request to Sales.

International messaging

Messaging to countries outside the United States is not affected by A2P 10DLC throughput rules.