Fiber optic drop cables suitable for outdoor fiber to the subscriber applications

A fiber optic drop cable comprising:

• at least one optical waveguide, the optical waveguide being disposed within the fiber optic cable;
• at least one cluster of rovings formed from a plurality of flexible rovings, the at least one cluster of rovings having a tensile stiffness of about 350 kN or less;
• and
• a cable jacket, the cable jacket at least partially bonding to at least one of the plurality of flexible rovings, wherein an average coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the fiber optic cable is about 5.0×10−3%/° C. or less, thereby preserving the optical performance of the at least one optical waveguide and a maximum delta attenuation of the at least one optical waveguide during thermal cycling is about 0.3 dB/20 meters or less at a reference wavelength of about 1550 nm at a temperature of about −40° C. after heat aging.

A fiber optic drop cable comprising:

• at least one optical waveguide;
• at least one cluster of rovings formed from a plurality of flexible rovings;
• and
• a cable jacket, the cable jacket being at least partially bonded to at least one of the plurality of flexible rovings, the cable having an average shrinkage of about 0.5% or less during an average shrinkage test, wherein the average shrinkage test comprises taking a 1 meter sample of the cable and exposing the 1 meter sample of the cable to a 110° C. environment in a thermal chamber for at least two hours and then allowing the 1 meter sample to cool to about 20° C., thereafter the average shrinkage of the 1 meter sample is measured.