SMS gets treated as an afterthought in a lot of TCPA guidance — a footnote on the call rules. That's backwards for anyone actually running text campaigns: the FCC's "SMS is a call" position means every consent, opt-out and disclosure rule built for voice applies to texts in full, and the mechanics of texting introduce failure modes voice calling doesn't have.
The baseline: texts are calls
The FCC has consistently treated SMS and MMS as within the TCPA's definition of a "call." Practically, that means:
- Marketing texts to a mobile number require the same prior express written consent as a marketing robocall.
- Opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days across every channel — an opt-out sent by text also ends calls, and vice versa.
- The keywords
stop,quit,revoke,opt out,cancel,unsubscribeandendare automatically effective; other phrasing creates a rebuttable presumption of revocation you'd have to disprove. - One confirmation text is allowed, within 5 minutes, containing no marketing content.
Statutory damages are the same as voice: $500 to $1,500 per text. A campaign sending thousands of messages to a poorly-vetted list multiplies that per-message exposure the same way an equivalent call campaign would.
A2P 10DLC is a different requirement, from a different source
This is the single most common point of confusion for small SMS senders, and it's worth being precise about because the two systems get solved completely separately.
| A2P 10DLC registration | TCPA compliance | |
|---|---|---|
| Who requires it | Wireless carriers, via The Campaign Registry / CTIA | Federal law, enforced by the FCC and private lawsuits |
| What it governs | Whether your messages get delivered at all | Whether sending the message was legal |
| Consequence of non-compliance | Messages filtered, throttled or blocked by carriers | $500–$1,500 statutory damages per message |
| Does one satisfy the other? | No — you need both independently | |
Being fully 10DLC-registered says nothing about whether you had consent to text a given number. Holding documented consent says nothing about whether carriers will deliver your traffic. Treat them as two separate checklists, not one.
What a defensible opt-in looks like
Consent language a consumer actively agrees to, before any marketing text goes out, should cover:
- The specific business sending the messages, named — not "our partners" or a category.
- What kind of messages they're agreeing to receive.
- A statement that consent is not a condition of purchase.
- The standard "message and data rates may apply" disclosure.
- How to opt out — reply STOP, or equivalent.
Retain the exact form text, the timestamp, and the number it was tied to. A description of your consent process, produced after the fact, is not the same evidence as the record itself.
State layers
Where a state runs its own mini-TCPA statute, text messages are typically inside its definition of a covered call, not carved out. Florida's FTSA explicitly includes text messages in its "telephonic sales call" definition and adds a 15-day post-STOP safe harbor specific to Florida — a narrower backstop that sits on top of the federal 10-business-day rule, not a replacement for it. Build to the federal deadline everywhere, and state-specific allowances take care of themselves. See state mini-TCPA laws.
SMS compliance checklist
- Consent language names your business specifically and discloses it's not a condition of purchase.
- The exact consent form, timestamp and number are retained and producible.
- STOP and equivalent keywords are recognized and processed automatically, within the platform.
- Opt-outs are honored within 10 business days, and cross-channel (a text opt-out also stops calls).
- A2P 10DLC registration is current and separate from your consent process.
- The number list has been checked for line type — texts to landlines fail silently and waste spend.
- The list has been screened against known TCPA litigators before the campaign runs.
NumberBroom covers the last two rows: carrier-level validation to confirm a number can actually receive SMS, and a litigator scrub in the same pass. Check a single number free, or see bulk pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is A2P 10DLC registration the same thing as TCPA compliance?
No, and mixing these up is one of the most common mistakes small SMS senders make. A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person, 10-Digit Long Code) is a carrier-level registration system run through The Campaign Registry under CTIA guidelines — it exists to reduce spam and improve message deliverability, and unregistered traffic gets filtered or blocked by carriers. It has nothing to do with federal law.
TCPA compliance is a legal consent requirement enforced by the FCC and private lawsuits. You can be perfectly registered on 10DLC and still violate the TCPA by texting someone without consent, and you can hold documented TCPA consent and still have your messages blocked for not being 10DLC-registered. They're solved independently, by different processes.
What does a compliant SMS opt-in look like?
At minimum, the consent language a consumer agrees to before receiving marketing texts should: name your specific business, describe the kind of messages they'll receive, disclose that consent is not a condition of purchase, state that message and data rates may apply, and explain how to opt out (reply STOP). It should be something the consumer actively agrees to — a pre-checked box or a buried clause in unrelated terms does not create valid consent.
Retain the exact form, the timestamp, and the phone number the consent was tied to. If a claim is ever filed, that record is what you produce — not a description of your process.
How do state text messaging laws differ from the federal TCPA?
Where a state has its own telemarketing statute, it generally applies to text messages the same way it applies to calls, running alongside federal law rather than replacing it. Florida's FTSA (Fla. Stat. § 501.059) defines a "telephonic sales call" to expressly include text messages, and separately grants a 15-day safe harbor after a STOP reply — but that's a Florida-specific backstop, not a replacement for the federal 10-business-day deadline, which is both stricter and applies everywhere. See state mini-TCPA laws for which states have their own statute.
Can I remove the 'reply STOP to opt out' language from my texts?
Not if the message is marketing content to a number you don't have an exemption for. The opt-out mechanism is what makes the FCC's revocation framework function — removing it doesn't remove the underlying legal requirement to honor opt-outs, it just removes the consumer's easiest way to exercise a right they still have. Some platforms market the ability to strip this language; doing so shifts risk onto you, not away from it.