We present a fast tabu search method for the design of access tree networks. We connect a population of users to a set of switches using a variety of SONET channels on fiber optics links and ADM equipment at the nodes. We specifically take into account the economies of scale provided by the transmission systems and the transmission hierarchy of SONET systems. We describe in detail the parameters used for defining neighborhoods, penalty parameters, data structure and indicate how this can lead to substantial improvements of the overall computational time while providing costs lower than those of a more direct method. Results for a set of random cases as well as for a real network are provided.