A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. In order to do this, they use some very different types of cables. Besides the use of special cables on. A TOSLINK optical fiber cable with a clear jacket. These cables are used mainly for digital audio connections between devices. Fiber optic cables and Ethernet cables are two of the most important data transfer cable standards there are, but with their use cases often crossing paths, and colloquialisms even meaning each name is used interchangeably at times, it's important to know the differences with Fiber Optic Cables vs.