Be the future: How Mobily’s first 20 years continue to support Saudi Arabia’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 thinking sits behind our investments in data centers, fiber, subsea cables, and 5G,” Banabeela says.

“You build for the future before customers ask for it. It was true in 2005, and it is still true today.”

BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATION

When entering a new phase of evolution, a solid foundation allows for rapid iteration, where you shape the future instead of waiting for it to happen. That mindset, Banabeela explains, has shaped Mobily since its earliest days.

“You stay ahead by going where people are going, sometimes before they know it themselves. Connectivity and connected people are where we started, and we are building on that, allowing people to reimagine and reshape the world around them.”

Today’s consumer demands much more than a trusty 5G connection, and Mobily is mindful of it.

“Customers want something they know is always with them and always works. You do that right every day, you earn people’s trust.”

It is imperative to study the market, and sometimes to go 10 steps further. How is Mobily securing that?

“By weaving and integrating AI into our operations and value proposition, we anticipate problems and address them before they become something bigger, and at the same time are able to understand our customers better and offer them more tailored experiences and solutions. That is what telco-to-techno transformation is about, and what evolving from a telecom operator to a leading technology, media, and telecom player is about,” says Banabeela.

Towards that evolution, Mobily is structuring its systems for agility.

“Virtualized core capabilities, direct connections to global hyperscalers, and a portfolio spanning cloud, cybersecurity, IoT platforms, a deeper enterprise portfolio, richer digital entertainment, all integrated together and elevated by AI, and backed by an AI culture, where everyone understands what works and what can work,” he adds.

The goalpost is to take Mobily’s customer-centric heritage into the future, he says.

SHARPENING THE FOCUS

According to Banabeela, one of Mobily’s inflection points that focused its direction was the decision to scale up infrastructure investment.

“The safe option was to keep optimizing the core telecom business, which was performing well,” he says.

“We chose differently,” he stresses.

He demonstrates this by citing the decision to commit SAR 3.4 billion ($906 million) across 2024 and 2025, among the largest infrastructure investment programs the Kingdom has seen, for subsea cables, data centers, and national fiber connectivity.

“The national scene tipped our decision,” he notes.

Saudi Vision 2030 was already delivering results.

“Non-oil activity now accounts for more than half of our nation’s economy, a little more than 10% comes from the broad category of the digital economy. These are businesses scaling their growth through digitization. Unlocking the next phase of growth through the digital economy is already underway with wider AI adoption,” he points out.

“Today, AI is reshaping economic activities, and as adoption widens and deepens, it will unlock new ones. We decided to build for that future, the future where the country is going.”

Today, Mobily’s 5G network covers 87% of all populated areas across the Kingdom’s seven main cities, augmenting its 4G network, which covers 99% of the population.

Success as pervasive as this was not built overnight. Banabeela’s conviction finds its roots in appreciating the value of making bold bets and bringing them to life.

“The leadership lesson stays with me. Align your strategy with the country’s direction, and the commercial results will follow. Our biggest decisions came before the numbers could prove them. They demanded conviction, and a team willing to carry it with us,” he says.

Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation has created one of the world’s most demanding customer bases. With smartphone penetration exceeding 95%, connectivity is no longer a differentiator; it is a conversation starter. The challenge for Mobily, Banabeela says, is staying ahead of users whose digital habits continue to evolve rapidly.

“You stay ahead by going where people are going, sometimes before they know it themselves,” he says.

That mindset has shaped Mobily since its earliest days, Banabeela notes. To crown its launch of 3G in 2007, Mobily introduced the world’s first unlimited mobile broadband bundle, creating fierce technology-based broadband competition at home and repositioning mobile connectivity in the minds of people from a substitute to an alternative.

Its next move, in 2009, was to bring the iPhone to the kingdom. Within a year, mobile broadband revenue had grown by 159%.

The principle was simple: rapid infrastructure buildout, put easy-to-use devices in the hands of people, and capture opportunities for new value propositions.

Today, the scale of these new value propositions reflects how deeply digitization has become embedded in everyday life in Saudi Arabia.

According to the Communications, Space and Technology Commission’s 2025 Internet Report, each person consumes an average of 53 gigabytes of mobile data every month, three times the global average. Forty-five percent of internet users now engage with AI tools, more than double the previous year, while 96% access government services digitally. The digital economy’s contribution to GDP reached 16% in 2024.

For Mobily, being ahead means bold moves beyond anticipating the future and putting what comes next into people’s hands.

In the CST’s Game Mode report, the company achieved a 100% rating for download speeds on STEAM and led the Xbox platform with a 98% score. The same network also extends beyond mobile connectivity, bringing premium entertainment experiences into homes through Mobily TV.

The ambition, Banabeela says, is to build a network that is almost invisible, one that works so seamlessly that people rarely have to think about it.

“This is what being ‘Ever Closer’ to connected people means in practice.”

FROM CONNECTIVITY PROVIDER TO DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM BUILDER

Mobily’s evolution into a technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) player is not a move away from its origins. It is the continuation of a journey that began two decades ago.

“We are not becoming something new. We are accelerating what we started two decades ago,” he points out.

Mobily’s identity has evolved alongside the kingdom’s digital ambitions. In 2005, it entered the market as a GSM provider. By 2009, it had become a data services company. In 2011, it expanded into ICT, and over the last decade, it has grown into a digitalization partner supporting businesses, government, and communities.

The evolution towards becoming a technology, media and telecom player, he says, is simply the next chapter of that same story. What has changed is the velocity of evolution. And that velocity, he says, comes from culture.

“We are layering an AI culture on top of our customer-centric heritage,” he says.

The impact is already visible. During Hajj 2023, Mobily equipped its engineers with AI-powered tools for predictive network management. Each year, the company continues to refine its approach. When it expanded 5G coverage for the 2024 Hajj season, data traffic quadrupled, allowing pilgrims across the holy sites to experience full 5G coverage.

The commercial results followed. Consumer revenue grew 5% in the first half of 2026, driven in part by the Hajj season, while the Board approved dividends exceeding SAR 1 billion (approximately $266 million) for shareholders.

The announcement that 2026 would be the Year of AI in Saudi Arabia reinforced the direction Mobily had already chosen.

Sovereign AI depends on three foundations: data, compute, and algorithms. Mobily is building across all three. Its data centers currently host 26 megawatts of deployed capacity, with plans to double that capacity, while its partnership with BytePlus supports the localization of advanced algorithms.

“The kingdom is becoming a digital bridge between East and West. We are proud to build part of what makes it real,” he says.

ALIGNING STRATEGY WITH SAUDI ARABIA’S DIGITAL AMBITION

The kingdom’s transformation has reshaped its global standing. It advanced 25 places in the UN E-Government Development Index between 2022 and 2024.

People in the Kingdom today are digital-first, highly connected, and globally ambitious.

To embrace that new reality, says Banabeela, Mobily launched its SHINE strategy last year “to align with the aspirations of Saudi Arabia.”

The strategy revolves around five imperatives: strengthening customer experience leadership, harnessing a digital-first approach, increasing the depth of its enterprise solutions, navigating growth from digital infrastructure, and enabling evolution through operational excellence.

AI enables the five imperatives to operate as a single system: personalizing experiences, improving decision-making, accelerating service delivery, and creating more adaptive operations.

For Banabeela, the value of the strategy lies in its ability to bring ambition to life. Mobily’s SHINE strategy reflects the company’s belief that technology must translate into measurable outcomes.

“What matters most to me is how SHINE translates national priorities into measurable outcomes: better customer experience, stronger enterprise competitiveness, resilient infrastructure, and sustainable value for customers, employees, and shareholders,” he says.

KEEPING TECHNOLOGY HUMAN

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in everyday experiences, Mobily’s challenge is to ensure the technology strengthens relationships rather than replaces them.

“The challenge is keeping technology in service of the relationship rather than in place of it,” he says.

AI allows Mobily to understand customer needs earlier, resolve issues faster, and create more personalized experiences. But the role of technology, he says, is not to remove human connection.

“Ever Closer gives us a simple test: be helpful without being intrusive.”

That balance is becoming increasingly important as companies adopt AI at scale. For Mobily, the measure of success is not how much technology is deployed, but how effectively it improves the customer experience.

People remain central to that promise, especially when customers need understanding, trust, and support.

AI helps the company anticipate. People help it connect.

BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE TO POWER VISION 2030

Saudi Arabia’s digital ambitions depend on infrastructure capable of supporting the next generation of services.

For Mobily, that means delivering foundational digital infrastructure blocks for cloud computing, AI, IoT, and smart-city platforms.

“Our role is to build the connectivity and secure platforms, so [the] government, businesses, and communities turn plans into outcomes,” Banabeela says.

That commitment has translated into significant investment. Across 2024 and 2025, it commissioned two Tier III data centers in Riyadh and Jeddah, started operating six submarine cable systems, and launched the Mobily Red Sea Cable—the first wholly Saudi-owned subsea cable.

At the same time, the company extended coverage beyond major cities to more than 1,300 rural areas that previously had no service.

This infrastructure is enabling some of the kingdom’s largest digital initiatives. The smart meter program, delivered through 5G and IoT networks, was completed in approximately one year, a rollout that typically takes much longer in other markets.

Mobily’s contribution, however, extends beyond technology.

It is about creating the conditions for businesses to grow, communities to participate, and people to experience better everyday services.

“This is how infrastructure improves quality of life and unlocks new opportunity for people,” he says.

THE NEXT 20 YEARS, CREATING WHAT CONNECTIVITY MAKES POSSIBLE

“Our first 20 years were about connecting people and earning their trust,” Banabeela says. “The next 20 are about what possibilities that connection unlocks.”

Those possibilities include people using AI to reshape their society and economy, businesses innovating on solid foundations, and Saudi Arabia strengthening its position as a global digital hub.

For Banebeela, legacy will not be measured only by infrastructure built or services launched. It will be measured by the people empowered, the innovation enabled, and the opportunities created.

“I want people to rely on Mobily for what they can do with what we build, not for what we sell,” he says.

Two decades ago, Mobily built a network to connect the nation. The next chapter is about bolstering the digital foundations that allow a nation to imagine what comes next.