ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the unintentional release was "embarrassing" and that his team had sent out a statement as soon as possible after they were notified, but wasn't sure how long it had taken due to the computer issues. We’re pretty devastated from our side and are acutely aware of the impact on the market" ACCC chair Rod Sims One telco industry source said it took up to an hour for the notification to arrive and there was trading ahead of the official statement. "We have a very small capital budget and our IT systems are lousy," Mr Sims said. "We’re pretty devastated from our side and are acutely aware of the impact on the market." Mr Sims has long considered TPG's plans to launch a fourth mobile network a win for consumers and competition, but the telco cancelled its infrastructure rollout in January citing increased cost pressures and difficulties after the ban of its supplier, Chinese giant Huawei, by the Australian government.

Loading Mr Sims said he thought TPG might still consider a mobile roll out in future, and allowing the companies to merge would "in general reduce competition and contestability in the telco sector". "TPG is clearly the best prospect for Australia to have a fourth mobile operator," he said. While he did not doubt that TPG's executives believed a mobile network wouldn't be feasible, he said the "things you believe ... when there's the prospect of a merger aren't necessarily the things you believe when there's not a prospect of the merger". "We are not convinced that other tech suppliers can't come up with a fix [to the Huawei ban]," he said.

The decision to block the merger has shocked the telcos' executives and the merger agreement has now been extended to August 2020 to allow the companies to fight the decision in the Federal Court. Vodafone chief executive Inaki Berroeta slammed the regulator for trying to create a telco market that was "fantastical" and a "fallacy". "[The merger] is not creating any concentration ... We will fight this decision," Mr Berroeta said. He said the decision, and the way it was revealed, was "disappointing" but he had not made an official complaint about the accidental disclosure. TPG Telecom executive chairman David Teoh said the decision "must be challenged" in a statement posted to the ASX.