A new fast virtual circuit (VC) setup method for connection oriented networks is proposed in this paper. The method requires a special signalling virtual circuit, called a VC-template, to be established in advance, with multiple VCs being created efficiently along the route of the VC-template. This method is suitable for multimedia communications carrying layered data streams in separate VCs under both unicast and multicast communications. Heterogenous receiver requests in multicast communications can be satisfied by supplying different numbers of VCs to receivers respectively. The mechanism for unicast VC setup and multicast VC setup is explained. A proposal for supporting the Multi-Protocol Over ATM networks (MPOA) using the features of the fast VC setup mechanism is also suggested.