T-Mobile Non-Compliance Fees "Sev-0's"

T-Mobile has announced they will be implementing new fees for non-compliant messaging traffic violations effective January 1^st, 2024.  Message content that is deemed to be non- compliant will result in a Serverity-0 (Sev-0) violation of the T-Mobile Code of Conduct.  Sev-0 violation will apply to all sanctioned messaging paths, SMS/MMS, 10DLC, Toll Free and Short Code.

Severity-0 (Sev-0) are the most extreme violations which demand immediate escalation to remedy the situation.

Non-compliance fines will be applied for every Sev-0 violation.  The fines are based upon the type category of the violation.  The categories or tiers are as follows

Tier 1: phishing, smishing, and social engineering.  Fine for each violation, $2000.

Tier 2: Illegal content.  Message content must be legal in all 50 states and federally.  Fine for each violation $1000

Tier 3:  All other violations, disallowed content.  Content categories are considered deceitful and nuisance campaigns which result in high volumes of spam reports.  Not limited to SHAFT violations

Fine for each violation $500

“Social Engineering” means all techniques aimed at getting a target to revile specific information or perform a specific action for illegitimate reasons.  Examples include but not limited to phishing, smishing, and pretexting purporting to be from a reputable company in order to induce individuals to revile personal information, such as passwords, social security numbers, bank accounts or credit card numbers.

“Illegal Content” Refers to any content subject matter that is not legal in all 50 states and federally.  This content is outlined in the T-Mobile Code of Conduct section 5.1 Unlawful, Unapproved, or Illicit Content.

• SPAM;

• Fraudulent or misleading messages;

• Depictions or endorsements of violence;

• Inappropriate content;

• Profanity or hate speech;

• Endorsement of illegal drugs

Programs must operate according to all applicable federal and state laws and regulations. In addition, the content must be legal across all 50 states. All content must be appropriate for the intended audience. Additional legal and ethical obligations apply when marketing to children under age 13, and such programs might be subject to additional review by T-Mobile.

“All Other Violations” this tier refers to the subsection 5.7 of the T-Mobile Code of Conduct, but is not limited to age “Age Gating”

In reference to the T-Mobile Code of Conduct section 5.6

5.6 Compliance Audits and Notices Consumers may choose to block unwanted messaging traffic on the T-Mobile network. To protect our consumers and keep non-consumer messaging healthy T-Mobile has launched an internal compliance and policy monitoring program. In conjunction with CTIA efforts T-Mobile's program will monitor messaging campaigns and audit notices may result in violations against Industry best practices and the T-Mobile Code of Conduct. Immediate action must take place shall external-monitoring efforts or T-Mobile-monitoring efforts to identify traffic as a potential for consumer harm. Severity-0 representing the most extreme violations. T-Mobile reserves the right to protect our consumers by turning down a messaging campaign on a case by case bases.

Timelines and required actions for Severity-0s:

• Immediate suspension of messaging campaign

• Notification to DCA of severity incident

• T-Mobile will issue an RCA document and it must be complete in its entirety

• The Messaging provider will have 24-48 hours to complete the correct action and return the RCA

• The identified root cause must be corrected to request reinstatement of the messaging program If there are several offenses on Content Provider and/or application address, this may result in the indefinite suspension of the messaging sender and campaign(s).

DCA notifications of a Sev-0 violation will include the following

10DLC- Registered service/content provider, offending phone number, campaign ID and cause based upon message content or violation.

Toll Free- Verified service/content prover, offending toll free number and cause based upon message content,

Short code- Approved content provider, offending short code number and cause based upon message content

The DCA will provide examples of the content to aid in the investigation of the cause for the Sev-0 notification.

Information required to complete the T-Mobile RCA form

• Content Provider (entity that is responsible for creating the message content)
• URL/Website of the content provider
• Application address (10DLC number, toll free number or short code number)
• Campaign ID and campaign description
• Message volume (last 6 months)
• Past violation (list all that apply to content provider)
• Number of HELP and STOP messages to the offending number or number (1 week)
• Description of the cause of the violation
• Date of the violation
• Date of issue resolution
• Impact assessment (a total of unique T-Mobile subscribers’ numbers)
• Responsible Party (if affiliate marketer, the party must be identified)
• Corrective Actions (immediate actions taken to stop offending content and timeline of steps)
• Preventive Measures (must include the process implemented to prevent offending content and a timeline of the implementation of the protocols or remedies)