# BRD-086 — Sole-proprietor throughput is capped, and the CSP enforces it

> Sole-proprietor traffic is capped at roughly 1,000 messages a day and 15 a minute, enforced at the CSP rather than by the carrier.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-086
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `sole-proprietor send rate`
- **Severity:** HIGH — Rejected by at least one carrier or provider, and a common cause of failure at the rest.
- **When it bites:** Falls due after approval, once you are live and sending
- **How it is detected:** Not knowable before submission — reported with its deadline
- **Fix type:** Wait on an external system or a required interval
- **Required by:** TCR, T-Mobile, AT&T
- **Applies:** Applies when the brand is a sole proprietor.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-086/

## Why this rule exists

Because the cap is applied upstream of the carrier, exceeding it does not produce message-level rejections — traffic is throttled or the account is reviewed, which looks like a delivery problem rather than a limit. A business planning a launch send on this tier will not find the ceiling in any error code, only in queue times that get steadily worse.

## How to fix it

Size the programme against roughly 1,000 messages a day and 15 a minute before committing to a schedule. If a single send would exceed it, spread it across days or move to a standard brand — there is no increase available on this tier.

## Check this yourself

**Does your largest planned send fit inside roughly 1,000 messages a day and 15 a minute?**

1. Do the arithmetic before committing to a schedule: list size against the daily cap, and burst rate against 15 a minute.
2. If a single send would exceed it, spread it across days or move to a standard brand. There is no increase available on this tier.
3. Watch for throttling rather than rejections — the cap is applied at the CSP, upstream of the carrier.

*What wrong looks like:* No error code names the ceiling. Queue times get steadily worse, the launch send arrives over two days, and it reads as a delivery problem rather than a limit.

## Notes

Send rate is not visible at registration time. The user has to do the arithmetic themselves — list size against the daily cap — and knowing that the CSP applies it means the symptom to watch for is throttling, not rejections.