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Otago Daily Times
15 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Cost-of-living pressures top of mind for govt: Luxon
By Lillian Hanly of RNZ The government has ticked off most of its action plan for the last quarter, as it turns to the next with a continued focus on the cost of living. In its report card for the last three months, two items were listed as 'in progress': - Take Cabinet decisions on capital markets settings to remove barriers to listing, reduce costs to firms and enable greater investment in private assets from KiwiSaver providers. - Publish the first Government AI strategy to help drive adoption of AI to boost productivity and grow the economy. The AI strategy is expected to be released in the coming weeks, and further decisions on capital market settings were expected in the next quarter. One change that has been made was to reduce the listing costs on firms by making the publication of their prospective financial information voluntary. Turning to the next quarter, a statement from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said continuing to address cost-of-living pressures over the coming months was key. Luxon said the government was taking action on the cost of food, housing, banking and energy to "drive a better bargain" for New Zealand families. "While it's still tough out there for too many Kiwis, our Government's focus on unlocking economic growth is starting to show some promise with key indicators up across the board." He said it wasn't enough for businesses to grow and invest. "New Zealanders deserve an economy that works for them, with more competition and lower prices," Luxon said. The next quarter will see the repeal of the oil and gas exploration ban, next steps to improve supermarket competition and further changes to the RMA. Luxon said repealing the ban would "unleash the energy" the country needed to "keep the lights on and prevent power prices from skyrocketing in the years to come". "The cost of housing is also a priority, with significant improvements to the RMA enabling more construction in our biggest cities expected to become law," he said. The government will also look to publish the first standards allowing the use of overseas building products in the country. The Public Works (Critical Infrastructure) Amendment Bill will be passed, which will streamline the process to acquire land for big projects. Legislation will be introduced to "strengthen governance and planning arrangements" at Auckland Transport. Under law and order, the government will look to progress legislation that makes stalking an illegal offence, and introduce legislation that deters "anti-social road use." Changes to the electoral system are on the way, including introducing a ban on prisoner voting, and the government will begin delivering rehabilitation and reintegration services to remand prisoners. Cabinet will consider decisions on legislation to "affirm police's authority to collect, use and retain information about individuals in public places for lawful policing purposes". Other actions under better public services include starting to deliver additional elective procedures, and opening an expression of interest for 120 nurse practitioner training places. The government will also implement its funding increase for GP clinics and the first prototypes for the expansion of urgent care for rural and remote areas. Legislation that will give effect to the ECE Regulation Sector Review will be introduced and key policy decisions taken to tighten the eligibility for income support for 18/19-year-olds.
Scoop
15 hours ago
- Scoop
Cost Of Living Pressures Top Of Mind For Government, PM Luxon Says
The government has ticked off most of its action plan for the last quarter, as it turns to the next with a continued focus on the cost of living. In its report card for the last three months, two items were listed as 'in progress': Take Cabinet decisions on capital markets settings to remove barriers to listing, reduce costs to firms and enable greater investment in private assets from KiwiSaver providers. Publish the first Government AI strategy to help drive adoption of AI to boost productivity and grow the economy. The AI strategy is expected to be released in the coming weeks, and further decisions on capital market settings were expected in the next quarter. One change that has been made was to reduce the listing costs on firms by making the publication of their prospective financial information voluntary. Turning to the next quarter, a statement from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said continuing to address cost of living pressures over the coming months was key. Luxon said the government was taking action on the cost of food, housing, banking and energy to "drive a better bargain" for New Zealand families. "While it's still tough out there for too many Kiwis, our Government's focus on unlocking economic growth is starting to show some promise with key indicators up across the board." He said it wasn't enough for businesses to grow and invest. "New Zealanders deserve an economy that works for them, with more competition and lower prices," Luxon said. The next quarter will see the repeal of the oil and gas exploration ban, next steps to improve supermarket competition and further changes to the RMA. Luxon said repealing the ban would "unleash the energy" the country needed to "keep the lights on and prevent power prices from skyrocketing in the years to come". "The cost of housing is also a priority, with significant improvements to the RMA enabling more construction in our biggest cities expected to become law," he said. The government will also look to publish the first standards allowing the use of overseas building products in the country. The Public Works (Critical Infrastructure) Amendment Bill will be passed, which will streamline the process to acquire land for big projects. Legislation will be introduced to "strengthen governance and planning arrangements" at Auckland Transport. Under law and order, the government will look to progress legislation that makes stalking an illegal offence, and introduce legislation that deters "anti-social road use." Changes to the electoral system are on the way, including introducing a ban on prisoner voting, and the government will begin delivering rehabilitation and reintegration services to remand prisoners. Cabinet will consider decisions on legislation to "affirm police's authority to collect, use and retain information about individuals in public places for lawful policing purposes". Other actions under better public services include starting to deliver additional elective procedures, and opening an expression of interest for 120 nurse practitioner training places. The government will also implement its funding increase for GP clinics and the first prototypes for the expansion of urgent care for rural and remote areas. Legislation that will give effect to the ECE Regulation Sector Review will be introduced and key policy decisions taken to tighten the eligibility for income support for 18/19 year olds.
Techday NZ
a day ago
- Techday NZ
2degrees accelerates MVNO growth with Totogi SaaS platform switch
New Zealand operator 2degrees has completed the migration from its legacy systems to Totogi's Charging-as-a-Service platform, aiming to support the evolution of its wholesale telecommunications business. Following the adoption of Totogi's cloud-native SaaS platform, 2degrees reports having accelerated its wholesale mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) revenue growth beyond what was possible with its previous systems. The company states it has on-boarded new MVNO partners and delivered over 300 new features without experiencing service disruptions. This development underscores the capabilities of SaaS-based operations in addressing the demands of the current telecoms environment. Wholesale growth Legacy monetisation systems have long been regarded as an obstacle to wholesale expansion for mobile network operators (MNOs), often requiring prolonged and expensive upgrade cycles. According to Totogi, its platform allows operators to on-board MVNOs more rapidly, deliver new functionalities swiftly, and avoid the need for disruptive and costly system upgrades. Chris Bradley, Head of Digital Architecture at 2degrees, said, "Totogi's SaaS-based charging platform has transformed how we operate our wholesale business. Wholesale success is about partnerships, agility and demonstrating quick time to value, and with Totogi, we continue to challenge the status quo, scaling and growing our wholesale business." Totogi's solution was introduced at 2degrees in 2024, with the aim of providing real-time monetisation of network services. Since then, 2degrees has been able to streamline its wholesale operations and increase efficiency in its commercial processes through the use of public cloud and automation. Platform capabilities The enhanced abilities provided by Totogi's platform include predictive churn scoring, giving operators insights to anticipate and address subscriber churn before it impacts revenue. Additionally, the platform offers automated customer journey mapping that leverages behavioural insights to improve engagement and increase average revenue per user (ARPU). "2degrees is proving that MNOs can support MVNOs at the speed the market demands—not at the pace of legacy systems," said Danielle Rios, Acting CEO of Totogi. "The telecom industry has reached a clear inflection point: operators stuck in legacy systems will lose ground, while those embracing public cloud, SaaS, and AI will dominate the market. With Totogi's multi-tenant platform, operators can run their wholesale business like a software company—rolling out features continuously, scaling dynamically, and turning their network into a competitive advantage rather than a limitation." The multi-tenant infrastructure of the platform is designed to allow continuous rollout of features whilst maintaining operational stability, which 2degrees cites as a key driver behind its enhanced agility and ability to scale. Market outlook 2degrees' migration to the new charging system comes as more telecommunications providers seek to modernise operations, especially in wholesale segments that serve MVNOs. The capacity to quickly on-board new partners and introduce service enhancements is considered crucial for growth as competition intensifies and as operators look to diversify revenues. Totogi reports that its SaaS approach frees up resources previously committed to managing upgrades and ongoing maintenance, thereby allowing operators to focus on commercial growth and innovation in service offerings. The partnership demonstrates the trend of mobile operators moving away from traditional monetisation systems in favour of public cloud-native platforms that promise operational flexibility, streamlined processes and, potentially, improved financial performance in wholesale telecommunications markets. By reducing deployment timelines and removing technical barriers, 2degrees' example is noted as an operational framework for other MNOs aiming to expand their MVNO activities and adapt to evolving requirements in the sector.
