Mr Russell later reiterated in an opinion piece for Fairfax on Friday that Optus was tackling the bill shock issue head on and said he would not turn a blind eye to what he thought was a customer service issue. "Let's be crystal clear. As an industry, we know how people use their phones, we know that young people will get their first smartphone and go bananas on it, we know people are going to get hit with a $500 or $600 bill, and we know that if they don't complain we'll get an extra whopping bit of revenue," Mr Russell said on Thursday night. "It's just crap." But he said he honestly believed Optus had been doing a number of good things to address "some of the things that piss people off", such as bill shock. "I just think a lot of Australians are paying a lot more than they should be and running through their allowances and it's hammering people," Mr Russell told journalists and staff. In 12 months' time he believed bill shock would become "a big issue".

As the comments were made at a Christmas party, Fairfax Media asked after Mr Russell's interview whether he agreed to be quoted. He said that it was fine. Mr Russell, who has been in the position since 2012, also decried data roaming as a "shocker". In October he issued a similar statement. "The idea that you're on holiday and you get a $5000 bill is a shocker," he said. "Data breakage and voice breakage is a shocker. The idea that your kids can do something and you end up with a $500 bill is crap. I think it's a bit immoral." In an attempt to address bill shock, the Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) code was announced by telco regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), in July last year. It was put together by the telco's Communications Alliance industry body to act as a rulebook for telcos, such as Telstra and Optus, on how to engage with their customers in a way that will eliminate bill shock.

A public inquiry conducted by the ACMA estimated that collectively Australian consumers spend $1.5 billion more than they have to every year because they choose the wrong mobile plan. Telcos and their customers spend a further $108 million resolving complaints, while telcos write off up to $113 million annually in bad debts incurred through bill shock. Asked in August about data roaming bill shock, Telstra's chief executive David Thodey said he was "not so driven by what others say". In September Telstra introduced a range of data packs with more generous data allowances. It followed Vodafone in July and Optus in August doing similar initiatives. Vodafone's Australian chief Bill Morrow has also recently decried other methods used to get more money from customers, such as a data rounding up trick.

"People really feel ripped off if they're having to pay for more than what they actually use," Mr Morrow said. The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, a consumer group which represents consumers on telco matters, said through a spokesman that it was clear that a recent focus on customer service by industry had led to a five-year low in Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman complaints. But ACCAN believed there remained "significant scope" for further reductions. "ACCAN has asked telcos to set their own complaint reduction benchmarks based on how much better they think they can do. We have also called for providers to be more transparent with their internal complaint data as was recommended in ACMA's Reconnecting the Customer inquiry," the spokesman said. Optus animals 'dead'

Mr Russell also used his interview to declare the animals in past Optus ad campaigns as "dead". He said the company had "grown up a bit" and had now moved away from the animals in ad campaigns to a "big round yellow caricature with skinny legs and skinny arms". "I must admit it's pretty scary when you try and change a brand … after 15 years with 8000 experts in the company including your CFO, who is one of the biggest experts. "But I think it's going well," he said. Loading

Mr Russell said he did not know what the original thinking was behind using animals, which were introduced in 2006. "Maybe we got a little bit carried away with some of the animals."