Staff Reporter : Banglalink, the country’s leading digital operator, has won two prestigious awards at The Fast Mode Awards 2025. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Johan Buse, received the ‘CEO of the Year’ (Asia Pacific Region) award in recognition of his leadership excellence, while the company earned the ‘Customer Experience (CX) Champion’ award for its continued progress in enhancing customer experience.
The Fast Mode Award, organized by The Fast Mode, a globally acclaimed
telecommunications media and research platform based in Malaysia, celebrates innovation, leadership, and meaningful industry impact. The 2025 edition received more than 300 submissions across the Telco, Solution Provider, and Leadership Excellence categories, which were evaluated by an international panel of experts representing leading research institutions, industry bodies, and analyst organizations.
Johan Buse’s recognition as “CEO of the Year” stems from his leadership in the transformative RESET 2.0 program at Banglalink. Under his leadership, the company has streamlined operations, cultivated a strong customer-first culture, reduced unnecessary hierarchies to accelerate decision-making, and empowered frontline teams.
On top of that, Johan Buse played a crucial role in returning the company to a growth trajectory after five consecutive quarters of revenue decline. His efforts have accelerated Banglalink’s shift toward a broader and more dynamic digital ecosystem, aligned with Banglalink parent company VEON’s DO1440 ambition, which is built around making every moment of the customer’s day easier, seamless, and more effective.
The “CX Champion” award reflects Banglalink’s sustained efforts in customer service excellence through technological innovation. The company has introduced AI-powered services, enhanced self-service options via the MyBL app, and developed a more structured customer feedback system. This has resulted in a 94% First Contact Resolution rate, a 35% reduction in call center volume, and notable progress supported by Bangladesh’s first GenAI-powered service chatbot.
Additionally, the country’s highest-rated telecom app, MyBL, plays a significant role in improving the customer experience. It offers over twenty services, provides a smart and transparent system for issue identification and complaint registration, and uses Generative Artificial Intelligence to provide reliable assistance to millions of customers daily.
Expressing gratitude upon receiving the award, Johan Buse, CEO of Banglalink, said, “These awards belong to everyone at Banglalink. From the start,
we have been listening to our customers with care, understanding their needs, and responding with empathy. The consistent improvement in customer satisfaction is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of our teams. This recognition will inspire us to continue raising the bar and building a company that serves not just with technology, but with heart.” In the CX Champion category,
Banglalink stood out for its excellence in Performance, highlighting the effectiveness of its CX strategies and initiatives in driving the intended KPIs. From Bangladesh, two other operators who also received awards are Grameenphone and Robi Axiata, who were recognized in the Operational Excellence and Emerging Telco Brand categories, respectively.
About The Fast Mode Awards : The Fast Mode Awards spotlights the most transformative innovations and visionary leadership shaping the future of the global telecoms industry. Organized by The Fast Mode, a leading telecoms and tech media, the awards recognize outstanding contributions across three key categories—Telcos, Solution Providers, and Industry Leaders.
From AI-driven automation, Open RAN and cloud-native networks to next-gen customer experience, sustainability, and 5G enterprise growth, the awards celebrate the technologies, strategies, and people driving the evolution of connectivity and digital infrastructure.
Each award within these categories highlights real-world deployments, measurable outcomes, and forward-thinking approaches—capturing the momentum of telecom’s most critical transformation journeys. The Fast Mode Awards serves as a platform to showcase those making meaningful, future-ready advances across the ecosystem.
About The Fast Mode : The Fast Mode is a leading independent research and media brand, providing breaking news, analysis and insights for global IT/telecommunications sector. Founded in 2013, The Fast Mode has grown from a niche media label to a world class brand with a global reach spanning millions of readers annually. Over the last 8 years, The Fast Mode has partnered with more than 500 technology companies, ranging from start-ups to leading multi-nationals with turnovers of more than a billion, to publish breakthrough ideas, forward concepts, critical analysis and up-to-date news on initiatives in the IT and telecoms space, with focus on IP connectivity, network management, content delivery, Internet of Everything, the Cloud, digital services and operator service innovations.
About Banglalink : Banglalink, the country’s leading digital operator, is dedicated to enabling the aspirations of the people of Bangladesh. Driven by the vision of “Digital For All,” Banglalink delivers a wide range of digital services right at customers’ fingertips. Its portfolio includes the telco-agnostic super-app MyBL,
the premier entertainment platform Toffee, and RYZE, the country’s first AI-powered digital lifestyle package. As a fully owned subsidiary of VEON, a Nasdaq-listed global digital operator, Banglalink remains committed to driving innovation and building a brighter, more inclusive future for Bangladesh.