Abstract: A system and method for ATM header compression for DSL links is provided. One embodiment, among others, for compressing ATM headers for communication across an ATM network involves transmitting an initial full ATM header to a receiver in the ATM network. Thereafter, when data payloads are available for transmission, the ATM header that corresponds to the data payload is compressed by either a differential technique, dictionary technique, or a multi-cell technique. The compressed ATM header and the data payload are then communicated over the ATM network to the receiver, wherein the receiver is enabled to interpret the compressed ATM header accordingly. By compressing the ATM header, a greater number of ATM cells may be communicated in the ATM network than if the ATM header were communicated in an uncompressed format.