Midspan access involves opening the cable by removing the jacket and strength members, opening the buffer tube and splicing only the fibers being dropped at that point. Many installations involve splitting the fibers in a cable or dropping a small fiber count cable from a large backbone cable. Backbone cables of 144-288 fibers are common and larger ones are becoming more common too. Whether you're a. This instruction manual is a step-by-step guide for end and mid-span access of outside plant reverse oscillating lay (ROL) cable, including sheath removal, core preparation, and fiber preparation.