RIYADH, 28 February 2008 — Mobily has received two prestigious awards from Islamic Finance news magazine. The awards were given for the best Saudi Islamic finance deal of the year, and for the most innovative Islamic financing method.
Mobily’s Senior Manager Corporate Communications Humoud Al-Ghobaini, received the award in the United Arab Emirates on behalf of his company.
According to the magazine according, what set Mobily apart from the rest, was the way that the Islamic finance rules of agency were applied, and how Mobily was able to demonstrate the “fungibility” of airtime, the minutes of usage consumed by mobile phone customers, essentially an intangible asset. “In the end, it was the demonstration of the fungibility of air time, an intangible asset, and its use as the underlying asset for a proper Islamic sales transaction applying the rules of agency that won in this category,” the magazine said.
Furthermore, the magazine said it believed that the innovation presented by Mobily in demonstrating the fungibility of an intangible asset like air time, set a precedent and paved the way for funding other high-technology and communications deals in the future.