AT&T Sues Contractor for $18,000 in Damages to Underground Cable

Construction contractor King Cable caused more than $18,000 in negligent damage to AT&T’s underground telecommunications facilities when excavating at a location in Plantation, Florida, in August 2020, alleged AT&T in a complaint Friday (docket COSO-23-007159) in the state's 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Broward County. King Cable had a duty “to follow the requirements and obligations” of Section 556, Florida’s Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act, said the complaint. Yet it failed to contact the statute's One Call System or an AT&T representative “before excavating in the area of known or probable underground facilities,” it said. Section 556 requires excavators to contact 811 and have underground facilities marked at least two full business days before beginning any excavation or demolition. The contractor also failed to take “all reasonable precautions” to prevent contact or damage to AT&T’s cables, as Section 556 requires, it said. AT&T seeks recovery for damages, taxable costs and “such other and further relief” as the court deems “just and equitable,” it said.