Abstract: In a packet (ATM) network, a source node at the entry of the network is responsive to a connection request from a user terminal for invoking a CAC (call admission control) algorithm to accept or reject the request depending on the amount of resource requested by the user, and allocates a portion of a free bandwidth resource exclusively to the user for the duration of the call according to established contract parameter values. Each node of the network responds to a reallocation request from the user for transmitting a copy of the request to a downstream node to elicit an acceptance message therefrom, and reserving a portion of a pool bandwidth resource and invoking the CAC algorithm to additionally reserve a portion of the free bandwidth resource. The node proceeds to allocate the reserved pool bandwidth to the user in response to the acceptance message indicating that the same amount of the reserved pool bandwidth is available in the downstream node. The allocation of the pool bandwidth is temporary.