and boards. Therefore, with the formalization of Gigabit Ethernet, people turned away from using ATM in the LAN and decided they would simply throw bandwidth at the problem in the campus network. But remember that Ethernet does not within itself address QoS, SO we can't continue to throw bandwidth at this problem much longer because when applications truly turn to the visual and multimedia realm, Gigabit Ethernet will not suffice, and QoS will need to be included. (But to be fair, Chapter 7 Wide Area Networking this is an area of great debate, with many feeling that throwing cheap bandwidth at the problem will suffice.) Organizations such as the U.S. Navy, universities, and health care campuses have deployed ATM, mainly due to the large amount of multimedia and visualiza- tion applications they use. ISPs are the biggest customers of ATM, followed by financial institutions, manufacturers, health care, government, education, research labs, and other enterprises that use broadband applications. ATM drivers include the capability to consolidate multiple data, voice, and video applications onto a common transport network with specified QoS on a per- application basis. ATM is also being used to replace multiple point-to-point leased lines, which supported individual applications' networks. In addition, Frame Relay is being extended to speeds above T-1 and E-1. The major inhibitor of ATM is the high service cost. Remember that one of the benefits of Frame Relay is that it is an upgrade of existing technology, SO it doesn't require an entirely new set of skills and an investment in new equipment. ATM requires you to acquire an entirely new generation of equipment and build up skill sets to properly implement and manage ATM, and this may have a big financial impact on the overall picture. However, it is important to note that today IP net- works are of most interest and are slowly but surely replacing existing deployments of both Frame Relay and ATM. (Given the importance of IP in the current environ- ment, two chapters a