Carrier of Record
Choose whether your brand or Reach handles wireless licensing, tax, and compliance obligations. This decision sets your compliance burden. It affects licensing, tax handling, and operational overhead.
The carrier of record is the entity that holds the FCC wireless license, collects and remits wireless taxes, and carries the regulatory and compliance obligation for the service.
This is one of the highest-impact launch decisions.
Option 1: Brand holds carrier of record
Your company holds the FCC wireless license directly.
That usually means:
Your company is responsible for federal and state wireless tax filings
Your company carries the regulatory and compliance obligation
Your brand owns the wireless relationship directly
Your team needs legal, tax, and compliance capacity
Under the NCTC and AT&T program, the brand must hold carrier of record.
Option 2: Reach holds carrier of record
Reach holds the FCC wireless license on your behalf.
That usually means:
Reach handles wireless tax and compliance obligations
Your team has far lower operational burden
The launch path is simpler for first-time mobile operators
You still retain full brand control of the customer experience
What to align on
Before launch, decide:
Who will hold the FCC wireless license
Who will own tax collection and remittance
Whether your legal and compliance teams can support wireless obligations
Whether lower burden or direct control matters more in year 1
Reach's Recommendation
If this is your first mobile launch and you do not already have wireless compliance infrastructure, start with Reach as carrier of record. You can move to brand-held carrier of record later as the operation matures.
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