The shifting landscape for Canada’s technology, media and telecom industries­

1. The race for the future

TMT companies spend heavily on each new generation of technology. In return, customers often expect to pay less while getting more. Additionally, potential regulations can hinder the ability of businesses to develop revenues from new services. So it’s little surprise that many TMT CEOs are looking to unlock new opportunities created by disruptive technologies and long-term trends.

2. Today’s tensions

In response to near-term economic challenges, Canadian TMT CEOs say they’re exploring new revenue sources while freeing up costs.

3. A balanced agenda

TMT organizations have collectively invested billions of dollars building out advanced technology platforms. For example, telecom companies are making tremendous investments in 5G networks to enable many other technologies. Now, they need to recoup and build upon their investments. But they can’t do it alone. Building new businesses and use cases will require collaboration—and balancing your time and resources between reinventing your company and managing near-term challenges.

Takeaways for Canadian tech, media and telecom CEOs

Our survey results show that Canadian respondents understand the challenges of operating in a dual-imperative world. They’re navigating near-term threats by finding new avenues for growth while reducing costs. But many recognize that these efforts can’t come at the expense of longer-term opportunities to transform their business.

Considering the following approaches can help you plan your next moves while finding this necessary balance:

Determine what value you’ll create, and for whom. As PwC authors argued in their 2022 book, Beyond Digital, businesses need to reimagine their place in the world to ensure their relevance and sustained success. For example, telecom companies can bring value to customers beyond high-speed connectivity services. They have connectivity expertise that can help businesses in mining, agriculture, manufacturing and other industries develop new solutions enabled by 5G to solve important business problems.

Evolving customer priorities, particularly around environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, are also creating opportunities. Blockchain, advanced software and other new technologies can help consumers learn about the origins of the products they purchase and give organizations greater visibility into their supply chains. This helps them weigh factors such as a manufacturer’s carbon emissions and respect for human rights into their purchasing decisions.

Foster resilience by rethinking regulatory risk. The TMT industries are in a race to address various consumer and business concerns before regulators feel pressured to impose new requirements. CEOs who can interpret and respond to these regulatory uncertainties while building trust with consumers and business customers can protect their investments and unlock new sources of revenue.

For some companies, this may mean improving network resiliency, either internally or through agreements with competitors to reduce network downtime. In other cases, it could be reimagining how personal information and proprietary data is protected and shared.

Don’t go it alone. Fully unleashing the potential of 5G, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other advanced technologies requires innovating, testing and learning within an ecosystem of alliances between TMT companies, as well as collaboration with other industries.

Bringing together teams of experts who can both clearly define a business problem and pinpoint technologies to power solutions can help develop new use cases, mitigate risks and uncover opportunities you didn’t know existed.