- | Mobily Be the future: How Mobily’s first 20 years continue to support Saudi Arabia’s digital aspirations Mobily’s CEO Eng. Nezar Banabeela looks back on how the company is building on its customer-centric heritage, evolving into a technology, media and telecommunications player, and honoring its role as a digital infrastructure partner supporting the achievement of the kingdom’s digital aspirations. It is Monday morning, about 9am, in Riyadh, and Eng. Nezar Banabeela, the CEO of Mobily, sits down to reflect on what makes this moment so significant. It marks two decades of Mobily’s existence. He looks out the window and sees a foggy blur. There is a sandstorm, and he says it will pass. “No one who stopped for the right weather conditions ever gained much.” In leadership, there are no crystal balls that can prepare one for what the future holds. Yet there is insight that can help enterprises navigate a storm or make the most of an opportunity. “The boldest bet was building ahead of demand,” he says. Recalling the company’s early days, he says, “Our license required us to reach seven cities in our first year. We launched in May 2005 with coverage in 32 cities. Then a year later we brought 3G mobile broadband to the kingdom.” Nobody was asking for mobile broadband at this scale in 2006, but Mobily built it anyway. “We believed connected people would create the demand. And they did,” he says. It is this pre-emptive boldness that continues to steer the organization across every vertical. “The same conviction guides us today,” he says. While building the infrastructure was crucial to establishing a solid foundation, the plan was never to stop there. “The network was never the end game. It was the foundation for what people could do with it. The same