Intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon and method of preparing same

A method of preparing an optical fiber ribbon, comprising:

• arranging a first plurality of subunits adjacent to each other, each subunit of the first plurality of subunits comprising at least one optical fiber surrounded by a subunit coating comprising a first material, the subunit coating having an outer layer of cure inhibited resin;
• intermittently forming a non-bonding region along edges of a second plurality of subunits, the second plurality of subunits being a subset of the first plurality of subunits;
• applying a ribbon matrix comprising a second material over the first plurality of subunits;
• and
• curing the ribbon matrix such that the second material interacts with the outer layer of cure inhibited resin of the first material in bonding regions located intermittently between the non-bonding regions.

An optical fiber cable, comprising:

• a cable jacket comprising an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface defining a central cable bore and the outer surface defining an outermost surface of the optical fiber cable;
• at least one optical fiber ribbon disposed within the central cable bore, wherein each of the at least one optical fiber ribbon is configured to convert between a planar configuration and a non-planar configuration and wherein each of the at least one optical fiber ribbon comprises:
• a plurality of subunits, each subunit of the plurality of subunits comprising at least one optical fiber surrounded by a subunit matrix material;
• a ribbon matrix material disposed at least partially around the plurality of subunits, wherein the ribbon matrix material interacts to create a first level of adhesion with the subunit matrix material in bonding regions and interacts with the subunit matrix material to create a second level of adhesion less than the first level of adhesion in non-bonding regions;
• wherein the bonding regions and non-bonding regions are provided in alternating arrangement between adjacent subunits of the plurality of subunits along a length of the at least one optical fiber ribbon.