The Cost of Hitting Daily SMS Limits—And How to Avoid It

Your customers are cruising through their SMS campaigns—open rates are solid, conversions are climbing—and then… bam. Message failures. Suddenly, their perfectly timed workflow hits a wall and your support inbox floods.

And here’s the kicker: you still get billed for those failed messages. 

And depending on messaging volume, that adds up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars in wasted spend every single month. Most API providers do nothing to prevent this—but Telgorithm does.

Why These Message Failures Happen (And Why T-Mobile’s the Biggest Culprit)

Each U.S. mobile carrier has its own throughput rules for A2P 10DLC traffic:

• AT&T: Per Campaign per minute
• Verizon: Per number per minute
• T-Mobile: A strict daily limit per Brand

Once that daily cap is reached with T-Mobile, messages stop delivering silently. No alerts. No warnings. Just frustrated customers and wasted marketing dollars.

And most messaging platforms—especially those that don’t proactively manage throughput—won’t catch the issue until the damage is already done.

How Telgorithm Helps You Protect Your Profit

Most providers either:

• Blast messages blindly until errors pile up
• Or cap traffic across the board, leaving ROI on the table

Telgorithm does neither.

Instead, our Smart Queueing technology:

• Tracks real-time carrier limits (including T-Mobile’s daily cap)
• Paces traffic at the Brand + Campaign level to prevent violations
• Automatically queues overflow messages for later delivery—so they don’t fail
• Dynamically adjusts per recipient based on their carrier 

It’s like insurance for your deliverability and your budget—built right into our API.

The Real Cost of Carrier Limit Failures

Based on recent platform-wide data, Telgorithm’s Smart Queueing has prevented an average of:

• 8% of all SMS traffic
• 13% of all MMS traffic

from failing due to carrier-imposed limits—specifically T-Mobile’s.

Using a blended message cost that includes platform + average carrier pass-through fees:

• $0.008 per outbound SMS 
• $0.018 per outbound MMS

Assuming a 50/50 SMS/MMS traffic split, here’s what preventable failure costs look like at different monthly volumes:Even at Telgorithm’s minimum volume of 500K messages/month, platforms save around $9,000/year—just by avoiding failed messages.

But That’s Only Half the Story

When messages reach their destination, you’re not just avoiding waste—you’re unlocking growth:

• More delivered marketing = more conversions
• More confirmations & alerts = better CX
• More reliability = more revenue for your customers

Better deliverability isn’t just damage control. It’s a growth driver.

Start Protecting Your Bottom Line with 10DLC.

1. Stop Waste. Start Smart Queueing.

Most providers wait until something breaks. Telgorithm prevents failure before it happens—saving time, budget, and customer trust.

2. Know Your Limits Before You Pay the Price. 

Each Campaign has approved throughput. If your provider isn’t honoring it, your customers may be paying full price for zero delivery.

3. Scale Smarter—Without Increasing Costs.

If you’re frequently hitting daily limits (especially with T-Mobile), we’ll help you:

• Review how your Brands and Campaigns are registered
• Recommend vetting options to increase throughput
• Automatically optimize send behavior across all traffic

Bottom Line: There’s a Better Way

If your platform handles A2P 10DLC messaging and you're not proactively managing carrier limits, you’re bleeding budget.

With Telgorithm’s Smart Queueing, you can:

• Stop paying for undelivered messages
• Reduce churn and support tickets
• Save thousands in waste every year
• Scale confidently—without fear of carrier blocks

Want to see what Smart Queueing could save you? Talk to our team or try our Smart Queueing calculator here.