Dhiraagu

Dhiraagu (abbreviation of Dhivehi Raajjeygé Gulhun) is the first Maldivian telecommunications company. Established in 1988, the company still remains the largest telecom provider for the nation. Major services provided by the company includes landline telephony, Internet (including dial-up access and "broadband", satellite and ADSL services), and GSM.

Until recently Dhiraagu was the sole ISP and GSM operator in the country. They still remain as the sole landline operator.

History

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 and Wireless (C&W) started it’s operations as the telecom provider. Later, in 1988, Cable and Wireless and the government of the Maldives formed a joint venture company, Dhiraagu, making it the first ever Maldivian telecommunication company. The Maldivian government holds 55% share of the company and 45% is owned by C&W.

Significant events

• 1988 — Dhiraagu was officially established on October 1, 1988
• 1989 — Major upgrade of cable network in Malé
• 1991 — Paging service introduced
• 1996 — Internet service was introduced to Maldives, for the first time, as a product of Dhiraagu. It was formerly called netlink and later changed to DhivehiNet
• 1997 — Mobile phone service was introduced under the brand label DhiMobile. Initially this service was provided over Advanced Mobile Phone System.
• 1999 — Mobile phone service's platform changed to GSM

Criticism

Dhiraagu has long been criticized as a monopoly because of it's total dominance of the market for a long time.

Dhiraagu was also heavily criticized for, what the public describes as absurdly high prices during 1980s and 1990s. Foreseeing the 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 – a Kuwaiti telecom company – was awarded the license to operate as the second mobile phone operator. Currently they are getting prepared for a fierce competition with Dhiraagu.

External links

• http://www.dhiraagu.com.mv Official Dhiraagu website
• http://www.dhivehinet.net.mv DhivehiNet website