Frank Dzubeck, president of Washington, D.C.-based Communications Network Architects, agrees. ATM is a backbone architecture and does not impact frame relay. The issue is one of speed - frame relay does not run at 155 Mbps. In fact, it's tough to get it up to 45 Mbps. But for low-speed multidrop, it's perfect.
Frame relay is an easy, well-defined, conservative way to go.
Not only do ATM and frame relay coexist, but their interaction is becoming even stronger due to an industry-wide agreement being worked on by the Frame Relay Forum and the ATM Forum. N.J. But for a variety of other applications, cost and capability make frame relay far more attractive. One of the reasons for frame relay's continuing longevity, says Phillips, is that frame relay has adapted to the market and is able to offer capabilities still being promised by ATM - like voice and fax over frame, and the ability to support a mix of protocols. That adaptability dispels another myth - that frame relay is only used for data transport. Phillips says that frame relay tied into an SNA network makes a good pipe for video or voice.