New Dhivaru Cable to Link Maldives, Christmas Island and Oman in Major Digital Push

Google’s new Trans-Indian Ocean subsea cable system, “Dhivaru,” was announced on Tuesday as part of a major investment to strengthen digital connectivity across the Indian Ocean region. The system is planned to connect the Maldives, Christmas Island and Oman, marking a significant expansion of Google’s global infrastructure and extending the company’s Australia Connect initiative. The project is intended to enhance the reach, reliability, and resilience of internet services as global demand for AI-driven technologies continues to accelerate.

According to Google, the Dhivaru cable is being designed to support the increasing adoption of advanced AI platforms such as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (known as Nano Banana) and Vertex AI, which require high-speed, stable, and resilient international connectivity. The pace of AI usage has been described by the company as exceeding earlier projections, prompting long-term investments in global digital infrastructure.

The name “Dhivaru” has been taken from traditional Maldivian sailing vocabulary, referring to the rope that controls the main sail. It is intended to symbolize strength, skill and navigation, reflecting the historical expertise of Maldivian seafarers.

Alongside the subsea cable system, two new connectivity hubs are set to be developed — one in the Maldives and one on Christmas Island. These hubs have been selected due to their strategic geographic position in the Indian Ocean, with potential to improve digital infrastructure for Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Oceania. Connectivity hubs are designed to support cable switching, content caching, and colocation, thereby improving resilience, speed, and local ecosystem development.

Through cable switching, data traffic is expected to be automatically rerouted in case of disruptions on any one cable, reducing regional downtime and enabling consistent high availability. Content caching is planned to store popular digital content closer to users, lowering latency and improving access speeds for services across the region. The colocation facilities will provide shared rack space for carriers and local enterprises, particularly in island regions where advanced data centers are limited.

Google stated that the hubs will remain far more energy-efficient than conventional data centers because their focus is primarily on connectivity and localized storage rather than large-scale AI or cloud workloads. The company added that where power demands are high in smaller locations, options for supporting renewable energy generation will be explored, in line with its broader sustainability commitments.

The initiative has been welcomed by leadership and major telecom operators in the Maldives.

Maldives President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu described Google’s investment as a strong sign of confidence in the country’s stable and open investment environment. He said the project supports the Maldives’ goal of building a diversified and digitized economy, positioning the island nation as an emerging hub for global connectivity. The investment was also said to create new economic opportunities for Maldivians and strengthen the country’s role in the evolving digital economy.

Ooredoo Maldives MD and CEO Khalid Al Hamadi stated that the partnership with Google marks an important step in expanding the nation’s digital infrastructure. He said the project will enable the next wave of digital transformation and open new possibilities for sectors such as tourism by supporting smarter operations and improved customer experiences.

Dhiraagu MD and CEO Ismail Rasheed said the company’s long-standing investments in subsea connectivity have transformed the Maldives’ digital ecosystem, and collaboration with Google on a new hub in Addu City, in the southernmost island of Maldives, represents another milestone. He said the initiative will boost national resilience and strengthen the Maldives’ presence within global subsea networks.

Google said the Dhivaru cable system and the associated connectivity hubs are planned to deepen the resilience of internet infrastructure in the Indian Ocean, strengthen regional economies, and better support the delivery of AI-driven services. Additional subsea cable and connectivity initiatives are expected to be announced in the future.