Optical cable is fiber used in fiber optics that is wrapped entirely in a thick coat called resin. This resin coated fiber is then surrounded by a jacket layer that is most commonly made out of plastic. The general purpose of the layers around the fiber are to provide an extra layer of strength, to protect the individual fibers, but most importantly, to not hinder the fiber from working effectively. The resin and jacket layer give strength, but don't take away any of the properties that an optical fiber has. The fundamental question, though, is what is an optical fiber?
Optical Fiber
Each individual optical fiber is made up of either glass of plastic. The fibers are incredibly tiny and so thin that they are nearly transparent. What this allows the individual fiber to do is transmit light through it. This transmission of light is what allows for a considerable amount of communication through an optical cable. However, a single fiber would never able to do what any person needs their communication lines to do.
It is because of this that optical cables are actually made up of thousands of these individual optical fibers. When grouped and bunched together, these fibers are able to increase the workload of the cable exponentially and allow for much more information to be transmitted through the bandwidth communication.
Type of Jacket Layer
The type of jacket layer used on an optical cable all depends on the use. If it is going to be used for indoor applications, the layer is entirely enclosed and has a lightweight plastic cover. This allows for the cables to be easily connected and disconnected. When used for outdoor applications such as telephone lines and underground lines, the jacket layer is a loose-tube construction design because it allows for the optical cable to stretch and compress without actually requiring the individual fibers to move. This allows for some give and take when there are bad weather conditions such as wind and rain.
The Uses of Optical Cable
Because of the ability for optical cable to have many different jacket layers, there are so many different uses for them. As described above, they can be used indoors. However, when discussing the uses for outdoor applications, there are many different to choose from. A company might choose to connect optical cables to telephone poles, electrical lines, buried in trenches, used in marine scenarios (paths of cable through the water), and placed underneath the pavement of streets. There is a push for more underground placement of optical cables because it is most aesthetically pleasing, but more importantly, power and communication doesn't go out if the weather is incredibly atrocious.
