Fibre optic “cable” refers to the complete assembly of fibres, strength members and jacket. Fibre optic cables come in lots of different types, depending on the number of fibres and how and where it will be installed. Choose cable carefully as the choice will affect how easy it is for fiber optic installation, fiber optic splicing or fiber termination and, most important, what it will cost!
Cable’s job is to protect the fibres from the hazards encountered in an installation. Will the cables be exposed to chemicals or have to withstand a wide temperature range? What about being gnawed on by a rodent or some animal? Inside buildings, cables don’t have to be so strong to protect the fibres, but they have to meet all fire code provisions. Outside the building, it depends on whether the cable is buried directly, pulled in conduit, strung aerially or whatever.
Since the plan will call for a certain number of fibres, consider adding spare fibres to the cable – fibres are cheap! That way, you won’t be in trouble if you break a fibre or two when splicing, breaking-out or terminating fibres. And request the end user consider their future expansion needs. Most users install lots more fibres than needed, especially adding singlemode fibre to multimode fibre cables for campus or backbone applications.