In a particular embodiment, the present disclosure is directed to a data communications system. The data communication system includes a plurality of digital subscriber lines, a digital subscriber line multiplexer coupled to each of the plurality of digital subscriber lines; and a data switch coupled to the digital subscriber line multiplexer via a communication link. The data communications system is configured such that the number of digital subscriber line users supported by the digital subscriber line multiplexer is determined based on an estimated maximum number of users, the estimated maximum number of users determined based on an average peak bandwidth per user value, a data communication capacity of the communication link, and a data transmission slowdown indicator.