You have been with Dhiraagu since the company's beginnings. What have the company's major milestones been since it was launched 1988?

Dhiraagu was formed with a mandate to provide telecommunications services in the Maldives. When we started, very basic telecommunication services – limited to the area around capital city Malé – existed in the country. Apart from a handful of telephones in Malé and nearby islands, most of the islands had no telephone service. When Dhiraagu was formed, one of our first mandates was to connect every island with the telephone service. Within approximately 10 years we achieved this objective – for the first time, the backbone of a telecommunications network was established across the country, and every inhabited and resort island was provided with telephone connectivity.
Following this, we were the pioneers in providing internet and mobile phone services in the country. Since then, we've continuously upgraded our network to expand mobile and fixed broadband service across the inhabited islands, including the resort islands. We are the first operator in the Maldives to provide mobile broadband service to 100% of the population. Today we are a full service provider with a varied portfolio including internet, fixed-line and mobile services. We have recently introduced our IPTV service DhiraaguTV, and have also launched our new mobile pay service Dhiraagu Pay. We provide comprehensive enterprise ICT solutions, and managed services to our business clients, especially to the resort and corporate sector. As you can imagine, connectivity is crucial to the development of the tourism industry and we are proud to have played a key role in its development.


So you're responsible for one million tourists being able to post all of their beautiful photos of the Maldives on Facebook and Instagram…

That's one assurance we give to visitors: even though we may be far removed from the rest of the world, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, visitors will have no problems staying in touch with their families and loved ones back home. Through Dhiraagu's robust network, we have made sure that is possible. To ensure that, we have established an international submarine cable connecting the Maldives to the outside world, and strengthened our core network with a submarine fibre cable spanning the length of the entire country.

Batelco Group from Bahrain is the majority shareholder of Dhiraagu, which means you're a living example of a successful Gulf joint venture with the Maldives Government. How is this reflected in your business?

Dhiraagu is a fine example of a successful joint venture by the Government with a foreign partner. It is successful because of the immense benefit brought to the country through its contributions to the country's socioeconomic development. Dhiraagu has played a key role in facilitating economic growth, including development of the tourism industry across the country. At the same time, the investment has produced good returns for the shareholders and has enabled customers to enjoy the latest innovations and technology to enhance the lives of our customers. This is a clear demonstration that the government always welcomes investment from overseas. Additionally, our parent company, Batelco's focus is very much in line with the country's development, and supports substantial investments in enhancing the network and our services.


And how important are the company's people to its value and success?

The success of Dhiraagu is very much dependent on our people. They are very passionate about the development of the country and providing customers with a better experience. They have a highly collaborative spirit – which is one of the reasons for our success. Not only has the company developed technology and connectivity in the Maldives, it has also built a strong local talent base. I myself started in Dhiraagu as an engineer, and have developed within Dhiraagu. I'm just one of many examples of Dhiraagu's investment in people. We have a team that is passionate about enhancing the lives of our people and communities.

What gives Dhiraagu an edge over its competition in the Maldives?

I would say the key differentiator is our passion to provide superior customer service; that has always been our main focus. The technology and products offered by us and other parties may be similar, but for us it's all about listening to customers, understanding their requirements and meeting them. Our promise to the customer is that their future is ensured with Dhiraagu. We are proud that after 14 years of competition, the majority of customers have chosen to stay with us. Today we are leading in the country, both in terms of technology as well as service.

We have invested heavily in technology and infrastructure throughout the country and have operational and commercial centres across the Maldives to ensure customer accessibility. Going forward, our focus is to ensure we are ready to provide for our customers' future needs. The company is heavily engaged in bringing in more digital services and content-related services that can improve the efficiency of both businesses and the multiple needs of individuals.


What is your main focus in terms of innovation?

We are in a constantly evolving industry, and if you look back just a couple decades, you see so much transformation. We have a good portfolio of digital products that one would expect from the most advanced places in the world. Our focus is on expanding this portfolio. As the industry transforms and customers demand more services, we want to enable them to realise their dreams and aspirations through the latest digital technology and services. For us, expansion is not an end in itself and only meaningful when we don't lose focus on our customers' needs. Ultimately, it's all about creating a better experience for them.

Hulhumalé is a very interesting and ambitious project that is cast as the country's new digital hub. What has been your role in developing connectivity there?

Hulhumalé is a very ambitious and visionary project. As a utility, we were the first company to install our services in Hulhumalé to demonstrate our support for the development. We established our network infrastructure there and made our services available to customers from the start. We are proud and pleased to be part of it and to be the pioneer telecommunications and ICT service provider in Hulhumalé.


Government officials have mentioned the potential for the Maldives to become a financial hub, especially in terms of Islamic Finance in the Indian Ocean. For that to happen, connectivity is key. How will Dhiraagu help support those plans?

From a technological and digital point of view, we are very much geared towards and ready to provide that support, both in terms of connectivity within the country and connectivity across the globe. Also, in terms of facilitating resources within a business venture. We can play a three-dimensional role: providing ICT solutions; providing managed services or hosting their services; and providing internal and external connectivity. Any business wishing to come to the Maldives can be assured that their ICT needs can be taken care of by Dhiraagu and they don't need to worry about connectivity.