Are you sure you aren't mis-remembering and were installing the Unix Services for Windows, to utilise Linux-like command line utilities?
As the person said above, ftp.exe has been in Windows since the MS Dos days, and is a core utility. I've never seen it not been available on any version in any situation.
Now an FTP server definitely needs to be installed. Always has. But we're talking about the ftp.exe client.
ftp.exe should be there, but telnet.exe is no longer installed by default. One must go to "Add/Remove Features" (or similar) and enable it first. Maybe that's what he's confusing it with.
As the person said above, ftp.exe has been in Windows since the MS Dos days, and is a core utility. I've never seen it not been available on any version in any situation.
Now an FTP server definitely needs to be installed. Always has. But we're talking about the ftp.exe client.