Direct connectivity gives financial institutions access to the largest high frequency trading footprint in Europe

London, 11 January 2011 – Interoute, owner operator of Europe's largest next-generation network, has completed two new high speed connectivity routes directly into the major financial hubs of Amsterdam and Milan. Financial institutions can now benefit from the fastest, most direct routes between 24 of Europe's most significant stock exchanges and multilateral trading facilities (MTF). 

Low latency connections between financial trading hubs are essential to high frequency trading (HFT), which enables financial institutions to increase trading volume, source better price discovery and improve market efficiency.  With the largest financial footprint in Europe, Interoute Fast Trade is guaranteeing round trip delay times between 28 European countries, including direct connectivity into 24 of the major stock exchanges and MTFs. 

"Taking the advantage in the financial sector has moved beyond milliseconds to microseconds, making fast connections between key financial hubs imperative," said Lee Myall, UK Regional Director at Interoute. "We are committed to supporting the financial sector as it moves towards a reliance on high frequency trading.  By connecting Milan and Amsterdam via our Fast Trade product we are providing financial institutions with the highest trading speeds between the most important financial hubs in Europe." 

The network extension connects into the Italian derivatives exchange in Milan, Borsa Italiana, as well as the financial ecosystem located inside the Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centre in Amsterdam.

Interoute Fast Trade is a point to point service based on Interoute's optical platforms, offering ultra low latency connectivity between 28 countries in Europe.  When bandwidth is purchased, it is solely dedicated to the financial institution, ensuring that latency does not vary, even during the most volatile trading times.  Equally, the contractual round trip delay of Fast Trade circuits is based on the exact route that the circuit will take and is measured before handover to the nearest 10th of a millisecond.  This forms the basis of its premium service level agreement, which allows organisations to cancel if the service level guarantee is breached during contract term.