The Fiber-to-the-Telecom Enclosure (FTTE) topology was designed to take advantage of the long link lengths afforded by fiber cable. It is one of the most cost-effective architectures in use today.

FTTE networks allow electronics to be centralized, which saves in cost and increases flexibility. This makes them ideal for environments with many moves, adds and changes (MACs). The FTTE architecture is based on the TIA-569-B pathways and spaces technical standard, which defines the TE, and on TIA-568-C.1, which defines the cabling when a TE is used.

FTTE architectures have been deployed in office environments successfully for many years. Depending on the user's needs, FTTE can be deployed in low- or high-density configurations. Modeling conducting by the Fiber Optics Technology Consortium in their downloadable cost model suggest that compared to traditional hierarchical star architectures (which use fiber in the backbone and unshielded twisted-pair copper in the horizontal), FTTE architectures offer the potential for cost savings by reducing the amount of electronics needed and freeing up space that typically was dedicated to TRs.