SZ STRAND RETENTION OF ASSYMETRICAL OPTICAL FIBER RIBBON UNITS BY A CONFORMING TENSIONED ELASTOMER SHELL

An optical fiber cable includes a central element, extending along a longitudinal axis of the optical fiber cable, and a plurality of routable subunits, each routable subunit having a rigidly stranded ribbon stack and a tight buffer layer surrounding the ribbon stack, wherein the subunits are SZ-stranded around the central element to form a cable core. A binder film continuously and contiguously surrounds the plurality of routable subunits along the longitudinal axis and a cable sheath continuously and contiguously surrounds the binder film along the longitudinal axis, wherein the cable sheath has an inside surface and an outside surface, the inside surface defining an elliptical shape and the outside surface defining a generally circular shape