The present invention relates to a loose tube optical waveguide fiber cable that is suitable for riser or plenum applications. The cable includes a protective tube that loosely surrounds two or more optical waveguides inside the hollow cavity defined by the tube. The protective tube has an inner surface and an outer surface and is a dry structure. Accordingly, the protective tube does not contain any gel-like compounds or other materials around the optical fibers positioned inside the protective tube. Strengthening members are disposed between the inner surface of the protective tube and the outer surface of the protective tube. The strengthening members are configured as embedded or layered strengthening elements and are disposed longitudinally along the length of the cable.