Dhiraagu
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Private 48% owned by Maldivian Government, 52% owned by Batelco |
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| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | October 1, 1988 - Joint venture of Maldivian Government and Cable & Wireless Communications |
| Headquarters | Malé, Maldives (head office) |
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Key people
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Mr Ismail Rasheed - CEO/MD |
| Products | Fixed Telephony Fixed Broadband Mobile Telephony Mobile Broadband |
| Revenue | "N/A" |
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Number of employees
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630+ full time |
| Website | www.dhiraagu.com.mv |
Dhiraagu (Dhivehi: ދިރާގު) is the first Maldivian telecommunications company, which was established in 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.
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 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, making it the first ever Maldivian telecommunication company. The Maldivian government holds 48% share of the company and 52% is owned by Cable & Wireless
On September 18, 2005 Dhiraagu signed an agreement with Sri Lanka Telecom 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.
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.
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Wikipedia