Gold Coast City Council has admitted that it was in charge of a project that cut the cables on Optus’ main fibre cable, leaving many Queenslanders without any landline, mobile or internet connections.

It initially denied any wrongdoing, before they admitted that they failed to check the locations of the cable before it was severed during construction of a "pumps and pipes" project which is not yet officially part of the State Government’s $9 billion water grid.

Lawyers are expecting that businesses will make claims of compensation against Optus and possibly the contractor who had cut the cables. Optus has apologised for the cut, and is not ruling out any compensation.