Petitions for Declaratory Ruling on Regulatory Status of Wireless Messaging Service

In this Declaratory Ruling, the Commission finds that two forms of wireless messaging--Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)--are information services, not telecommunications services under the Communications Act (the Act), and that they are not commercial mobile services nor their functional equivalent. In so doing, the Commission denies petitions filed by Twilio and Public Knowledge asking that the Commission subject text messaging services to common carrier regulation under Title II of the Act. This document concludes that classifying SMS and MMS wireless messaging services as information services will enable wireless providers to continue their efforts to protect American consumers from unwanted text messages and is therefore in the public interest.