Optus loses the sunshine state

update Optus customers in Queensland were stranded in a communications desert today, with a cable break at the Gold Coast wreaking havoc.

"At approximately 8am this morning a fibre-optic cable on the Gold Coast broke, which is affecting services in Queensland," a spokesperson said.

Voice calls to and from the state were been hit by the break at Molendinar, west of Surfer's Paradise, as well as mobile services for Queensland customers. The internet was affected for customers accessing servers outside of Queensland. Some mobile services in northern NSW also went under.

The break was caused by non-Optus contractors installing a pipe at the Gold Coast. Technicians restored the service at midday by repairing the cable.

Unrelated to the cable cut, late last night, Optus's network also experienced a hardware fault in South East Queensland, affecting its back up link.

This is the second set of problems Optus has encountered this week, with customers signing up for the iPhone also experiencing difficulties. Telstra suffered similar problems when the iPhone launched.

Are you an Optus customer who was affected by the problem? Drop us a line at tips@zdnet.com.au.