Fanout cable

Breakout-style fiberoptic cable (also called breakout cable or fanout cable), is an optical fiber cable containing several jacketed simplex optical fibers packaged together inside an outer jacket. This differs from distribution-style cable, in which tight-buffered fibers are bundled together, with only the outer cable jacket of the cable protecting them. The design of breakout-style cable adds strength for ruggedized drops, however the cable is larger and more expensive than distribution-style cable. Breakout cable is suitable for short riser and plenum applications and also for use in conduits, where a very simple cable run is planned to avoid the use of any splicebox or spliced fiber pigtails.

Because each fiber is individually reinforced, the cable can be easily divided into individual fiber lines. Each simplex cable within the outer jacket may be broken out and then continue as a patch cable, for example in a fiber to the desk application in an office building. This enables connector termination without requiring special junctions, and can reduce or eliminate the need for fiberoptic patch panels or an optical distribution frame. Breakout cable requires terminations to be done with simple connectors, which may be preferred for some situations. A more common solution today is the use of a fanout kit that adds a jacket to the very fine strands of other cable types.