For additional Net Infrastructure stories If you have dismissed ATM carrier services as too costly or simply overkill, you might want to look again, especially if you want to increase your frame relay access rates to DS3. One of the misconceptions about ATM is that it's only cost-effective for big users.
Customer premises equipment cost is another big issue.
In the past, many network managers dismissed ATM because the CPE costs were higher than those required for frame relay networks. Another reason network managers dismissed ATM in the past was their satisfaction with frame relay services. But I think an underlying issue, in some cases, is that network managers are reluctant to mix WAN technologies. So even if ATM would be attractive in some locations, they are often reluctant to implement it while running frame relay elsewhere. But a recent study by Sage Research found more than half the ATM subscribers are also frame relay users.