TELUS

Dwayne Benefield is a seasoned professional in the telecommunications, media and technology industry, known for his exceptional leadership, product development expertise and supporting high-performance and diverse teams. With a focus on driving digital transformation and innovative product development, Benefield currently serves as the SVP of Dwayne Benefield Mobility & Home Products & Transformation at TELUS.  

Please tell our readers about your journey in the industry.

Strangely enough, my journey to telecom came full circle. I started my career working at KPMG, a prominent accounting consulting firm where I focused on the Information, Communications & Entertainment (“ICE”) practice. Most notably, I assisted in the IPO of Quest Communications, a large internet-based data, voice, image and multimedia company that was eventually acquired by CenturyLink. I then joined The Walt Disney Company focusing on strategy, corporate development and international business incubation, including their expansion into the BRIC markets. Later, I joined Google and led their West Coast entertainment division, delivering one of the largest and fastest growing ad revenue businesses for YouTube, including one of the first digital upfronts.

Like many from Google, I took my chances with a venturebacked company, Power Challenge, but the 2008 financial crises made that a short adventure. Afterwards, I landed at Sony where I spent the next 11 years spearheading the company’s digital innovation: playing a pivotal role in building the PlayStation network, establishing their app platform with 300+ services, developing Sony’s first multi-device, multi-country music entertainment service, and launching the world’s first ‘virtual MVPD’. PlayStation Vue, as it was called, was one of the first OTT services to deliver dynamic ad insertion in both live and on-demand content as well as enable consumers to pick up to 4 live channels to view simultaneously (“multi-view”), features other OTT services have just now begun to replicate…7 years later. As part of a Corporate Development transaction, my career came full circle back to telecom, joining T-Mobile as the VP of Entertainment and leading the strategy, growth and customer engagement for Entertainment products and services.

The goal is to deliver the world’s first device agnostic smart home platform, enabling consumers to set-up and manage new and existing devices through a single app or voice interface, one that delivers a seamless and truly

Good fortune would soon present the opportunity to join TELUS in 2021, where I now serve as the SVP of Mobility & Home Products & Transformation. In this role, I oversee a diverse range of products and services, including our home internet options (fibre, copper, fixed wireless and resell), entertainment portfolios consisting of linear TV, premium OTT bundles and gaming, security solutions encompassing smart home and wearable security, and marketing and communications efforts across these businesses. More recently, I have also taken on oversight of our mobility product portfolio and transformation teams, focused on delivering the absolute best connectivity products to Canadians, both in and out of home, through a seamless end-to-end experience.

What are some of the recent trends that you have observed in the industry?

All around the world, telecom companies are facing increasing challenges from regulatory bodies and competition, often pressurizing ARPUs and AMPUs. In order to drive profitable growth, telecom companies are finding ways to deliver connectivity services more efficiently, while focused on great customer service. More recently, this includes leveraging generative AI in areas like customer service and software development. In many markets, the magnitude of the economic  impact is difficult to offset with efficiencies alone, requiring telecom companies to seek new growth opportunities in businesses that leverage connectivity. Traditionally, this has included TV and entertainment, but these businesses are facing margin challenges of their own, especially with the rising cost of sports and content production. An emerging opportunity is evolving in the Connected Home, or Smart Home more specifically.

Smart Home products by their very nature require connectivity, and thus telecom companies not only have an opportunity, but I’d say an obligation, to innovate in this space. While consumers may have connected home products from multiple, if not dozens, of brands and platforms, they typically only have one home internet provider. As the sole internet provider, telecom companies can simplify and optimize the home experience across all the related connected devices.

“The goal is to deliver the world’s first device agnostic smart home platform, enabling consumers to set-up and manage new and existing devices through a single app or voice interface, one that delivers a seamless and truly connected home environment.”

The opportunity is now, as the size and growth of connected device penetration is increasing rapidly in many markets across the globe, on pace to hit an average of 20+ smart home devices per home in countries like Canada in the next year or two. Not long ago, it was largely just phones, laptops, and maybe a few speakers or lights that were connected. These days, nearly everything you plug in can be ‘connected’, including appliances, lawn mowers, sprinkler systems, surveillance drones and even robotic pets that double as security devices.

Another related trend is awareness of energy consumption and a focus on energy efficiency, including sourcing it from sustainable means. This is even more important with today’s geopolitical landscape and heightened awareness of our impact on the planet. Few people truly know what is driving their energy usage and bills every month, often forgetting about things like spa pumps, dishwashers and lunchtime laundry. Consumers’ energy concerns and rising costs are pushing them to be more conscious about energy usage and to seek energysaving solutions. The mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), often encouraged through government incentives, can not only save gas and the environment, but through bidirectional chargers, can also bring a tremendous amount of efficiency into the home as well.

Of equal if not greater concern is health, especially as the baby boomer generation enters retirement and desires solutions to optimize their wellness while staying connected to loved ones. This generation didn’t grow up with connected devices so making it simple to adopt and use them is of critical importance if they are to improve the overall quality of life, ideally creating a utopian environment at home. These types of solutions are equally important to many generations and segments of consumers focused on health and well being.

The proliferation of connected devices is a serendipitous fit to help solve not only the promise of a truly smart home, but also drive energy savings and wellness benefits as well. These are some of the key reasons TELUS chose to partner with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build the world’s first device agnostic smart home platform that brings ease of set-up and use to consumers through a single user interface or voice assistant, all the while leveraging the latest AI/ML to optimize the smart home experience.  

What are some of the challenges that you have observed in the industry?

Almost every electronic device consumers purchase now comes with its own app, login, password and often even a hub. I personally have over 30 apps on my phone to manage my home electronics and even as an early adopter, am annoyed with the inefficiency. Customers are growing increasingly frustrated with the number of apps required to manage their electronics, and especially the lack of compatibility between them. This lack of compatibility severely limits consumer ability to set-up routines that include multiple devices such as turning off lights while closing the blinds and lowering the thermostat, especially when those devices are tied to only one of the big voice assistants. The data supports these challenges - 65% of consumers are concerned about smart devices not working together and 49% of them associate smart hubs with set-up challenges. This is not an environment that can scale and certainly not one that delivers on the promise of a truly ‘smart home’.

Device manufacturers also face challenges, especially given their relatively lower margins, yet growing competition. Generating awareness amongst the plethora of consumer choices is not cheap, so scaling their devices into millions of homes is costly and time consuming. When hubs are required, they also face consumer push back as noted above - I mean who needs another hub cluttering the top of their dressers? Some of the larger device makers have tried to integrate their apps with 3rd party devices, but they are essentially still walled gardens and often require consumers to start over if they want all their devices to work together.

What is TELUS doing to solve these challenges for companies and consumers?

To address the very challenges I just discussed, TELUS has developed the TELUS Smart Living Solution, the world's first device-agnostic connected home solution that simplifies the installation, setup, and management of smart home devices. This solution eliminates most compatibility issues by working with all the major connectivity protocols, including Wi- Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave, and the upcoming matter protocol. We are leveraging new cloud technologies from AWS, namely zero-touch and ubiquitous control, to offer a seamless user experience, one that is truly plug and play. The solution will allow customers to incorporate their existing devices, as well as new ones they choose to bring home, all the while eliminating most, if not all “hubs”. Devices can be added to the smart home by simply asking your voice assistant of choice to discover new devices, or pressing a button on your phone. Once found, simply designate the room and add to new or existing routines. On that note, we are also incorporating AI and machine learning to learn and optimize user routines across all the connected devices, much like smart thermostats learn desired temperature by day and time while ensuring security offerings can identify real threats and optimize response. Now imagine that ‘learning’ behavior extending to all your devices and creating routines that work across all of them, personalized to each individual in the house. The possibilities are endless because once all the devices in the home can work together and be managed through a single interface, energy can be more efficiently managed, health can be seamlessly monitored and homes can ultimately become utopias with devices providing peace of mind and enjoyment, not friction and frustration. While consumers are the ultimate beneficiary, device manufacturers can also benefit through accelerated household adoption and a new distribution channel with low cost of integration.

Within Canada, TELUS will deploy our Smart Living solution together with our expertise in connectivity, home internet, wireless communications, and TV services to create truly unique experiences and value propositions. Next time someone shows up at one of our customers' homes in Canada, the door bell video will show up within their TV experience and they can use their voice, TV remote or phone to open the door and invite them in for the big game. Outside Canada, we will be partnering with leading CSPs to rapidly expand the TELUS Smart Living solution across the globe, enabling our partners to deploy cutting-edge differentiation with rapid monetization. In addition to reduced time and cost to market, CSPs will be able to construct profitable market-specific value propositions that facilitate higher household ARPUs with lower churn and cost of acquisition all the while enabling consumers everywhere to finally experience what a smart home should be.