Dhiraagu

Dhivehi Raajjeygé Gulhun PLC (Dhiraagu)

Native name	ދިރާގު
Company type	Public 41.8% owned by Maldivian Government, 52% owned by Batelco, 6.2% owned by Public
Industry	Telecommunications
Founded	1 October 1988 – Joint venture of Maldivian Government and Cable & Wireless
Headquarters	Malé, Maldives (head office)
Key people	Mr Ismail Rasheed – (CEO)
Products	Fixed Telephony Fixed Broadband Mobile Telephony Mobile Broadband
Revenue	698 Million (Q4 – 2017)
Number of employees	430+ full time
Website	dhiraagu.com.mv

Dhiraagu (Dhivehi: ދިރާގު) is the first Maldivian telecommunications company, which was incorporated and registered in the Republic of Maldives on 16 May 1988 and commenced operations on 1 October 1988.

The name "Dhiraagu" is an acronym for Dhivehi Raajjeygé Gulhun (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ގުޅުން) – Literally: Connection of Maldives.

Dhiraagu maintains one of the world's longest microwave links over water. This 65 km link across the equator connects Fuvahmulah and Gaafu Dhaalu – and therefore Gaafu Alifu atoll.

History

Dhiraagu front office, circa 1990. To left is the flag of Cable & Wireless Communications and to right is Flag of the Maldives.

Though Dhiraagu is the first Maldivian telecommunications company, it's not the first to start the service. Telecommunication service in the Maldives was officially started on December 23, 1943, by the Maldivian government. On May 17, 1977 Cable & Wireless started its operations as the telecom provider. Later, in 1988, Cable and Wireless and the government of the Maldives formed a joint venture company, Dhiraagu (55% owned by the Government of Maldives and 45% by Cable and Wireless), making it the first ever Maldivian telecommunication company. Later it became a public company and currently the Maldivian government holds 41.8% share of the company, 52% is owned by Batelco and 6.2% is owned by the general public.

Significant events

• 1988 – Dhiraagu was officially established on October 1, 1988.
• 1989 – Major upgrade of copper network in Male.
• 1991 – Paging service introduced.
• 1996 – Dial Up Internet service was introduced to Maldives, for the first time under the brand name DhivehiNet.
• 1997 – Mobile phone service was introduced with Advanced Mobile Phone System Technologies.
• 1999 Mobile phone service's platform changed to GSM.
• 2005 – On June 23, 2005, Dhiraagu rebranded and introduced a new logo.
• 2006 – Dhiraagu introduces ADSL services to Maldives.
• 2006 – In Feb 2006 Dhiraagu initiated world record dive helped to put Maldives onto Guinness world record book.
• 2006 – Dhiraagu connects a submarine cable with Sri Lanka.
• 2006 – Dhiraagu establishes domestic fiber optic submarine cable.
• 2010 – Dhiraagu introduces 3G HSPA services to Maldives.
• 2013 – Dhiraagu introduces 4G LTE services to Maldives.
• 2014 – Dhiraagu introduces VDSL services to Maldives under the brand name "UltraFast Broadband".
• 2015 – Dhiraagu Introduces Streaming TV services to Maldives under the brand name "DhiraaguTV".
• 2015 – Dhiraagu Introduces FTTH services to Maldives under the brand name "Dhiraagu Fiber Broadband".
• 2015 – Dhiraagu commercially launched LTE Advanced, for the first time in Maldives and the first in South Asia.
• 2017 – On May 25, 2017, Dhiraagu rebranded and introduced a new logo and slogan "Take On Tomorrow".

Tier 2 network

On September 18, 2005 Dhiraagu signed an agreement with SLTMobitel for an Optical Submarine Cable System. Under the agreement, both companies will invest in maintaining the cable. The actual work of laying the 837 km cable was done by NEC of Japan, under a contract valued at US$22.7 Million. On November 14, 2006 the cable was connected to a landing site at Hulhumale', Maldives. This Tier 2 network has an initial transmission capacity of 3 Giga bit per second (Gbit/s), which is capable of being increased to up to 160 Gbit/s. The system adopts WDM, or Wavelength Division Multiplexing. This is the second submarine cable connecting Maldives to the world.

Original logo. This logo was replaced by their logo rebranded on June 23, 2005.

Dhiraagu stated that this cable will help the company to reduce the cost of providing Telephone and Internet services, thus reducing prices. Also the cable system will help to improve quality of services.

Criticism

Dhiraagu has long been seen to Monopolise the telecoms market in the Maldives, a situation it is accused of having created and maintained. Until 2004 the Telecommunications Authority of Maldives had refrained from issuing additional licenses to companies preventing any competition to all of the telecom services provided by Dhiraagu. This status quo may have been deliberately retained by the Maldivian government in an effort to profit from Dhiraagu's revenues, as it partly owns the company.

Dhiraagu was also heavily criticized for what the public describes as absurdly high prices during the 1980s and 1990s. Foreseeing competition and regular criticism from the public, the company had dramatically lowered the service prices.

Competition

Raajjé Online (ROL), established in 2003, became Dhiraagu's first competitor. ROL is the second Internet Service Provider.

In 2005, Wataniya Telecom International – a Qatar telecom company (now owned by Ooredoo Group; also merged into the Ooredoo Group) – was awarded the license to operate as the second mobile phone operator. They formed Ooredoo Maldives (formerly Wataniya Telecom Maldives) and started operation on August 1, 2005.

See also

• Telecommunications in the Maldives

External links

• Official Dhiraagu website