PURPOSE:To enable the easy tearing of a covering layer in a part to be branched so that a tape-shaped optical fiber can be branched to plural optical fibers by connecting the covering layer in said part by a connecting material having orientational property in the longitudinal direction of the optical fibers. CONSTITUTION:The tape-shaped optical fiber is constituted of 4 pieces of the optical fibers. Coating layers 2a, 2b of the fibers on one side and coating layers 2c, 2d of the fibers on the other side are in contact with each other. The coating layers 2b, 2c of two pieces of the intermediate optical fibers adjacent to each other are parted at a specified spacing and the connecting material 4 for integrating the fibers is constricted in this narrow part (branch part). The connecting material 4 is formed of a thermosetting resin or UV curing resin and has the orientational property in the longitudinal direction of the optical fibers. The tape-shaped optical fiber is thus branched to the two fibers by tearing this connecting material 4.
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