A buried fiber optic cable system includes a distribution cable extending along a buried route, a splice enclosure connected to the distribution cable along the buried route, and a first sub-distribution fiber optic system extending along the buried route in a first direction away from the fiber optic splice enclosure. The first sub-distribution system may include spaced apart fiber optic taps along the buried route, a first sub-distribution fiber optic cable between the fiber optic splice enclosure and a first fiber optic tap, and at least one second sub-distribution fiber optic cable between adjacent fiber optic taps so that the first sub-distribution fiber optic cable and the at least one second sub-distribution fiber optic cable are arranged in end-to-end relation. The system may also or alternately include a similar lateral sub-distribution system.