contractor blames Optus for cable break

Last week Optus pointed the finger at a Queensland construction company for the outage that wiped out the QLD network.

Last week Optus pointed the finger at a Queensland construction company for the outage that wiped out the Queensland phone network. This week the construction company has fought back – suggesting that Optus incorrectly marked a signpost used to identify the line’s location.

After the Gold Coast council suggested that Optus was at fault for failing to provide adequate warning of a fibre optic cable being in the area; Optus released a photo to the media of the alleged site of the damaged cable showing a warning sign that indicated that a cable was in the area.

The contractors have now hit back however saying the signage reported the cable as being 17.8 metres away – a far cry from the 2 metre distance it was discovered at…

“The photo provided by Optus to the media shows our excavation just two metres from the marker post,” Abigroup construction manager Neil Silversides said.

“The marker post did not identify the location of the fibre optic cable that was in fact only two metres away, despite our extensive investigations which included the use of an accredited Utility Locator, as well as a site review by an Optus representative,” Mr Silversides said.

Optus has not commented on the latest development.

Source: The Australian IT