Telstra to connect ASX to more international exchanges
Telstra has announced entering into an agreement with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that will see it become the connectivity partner for the ASX's international network solution, ASX Net Global, which provides access to ASX markets, market data, and colocation facility from international financial centres.
Under the terms of the agreement, ASX Net Global customers will have access to Telstra's Ethernet Private Line Express (EPLX) solution, which provides financial trading companies with a dedicated point-to-point service.
EPLX uses Telstra's subsea cable network, connecting financial centres to points-of-presence located in financial exchanges in these centres. The telco claims EPLX uses the shortest routes available to minimise end-to-end transmission delays.
"In a world where a fraction of a millisecond matters, our EPLX service provides fast, point-to-point network connectivity between key datacentres and trading hubs that will provide an edge in a competitive market," Brendon Riley, executive at Telstra Enterprise, said in a statement.
The agreement extends the connectivity Telstra currently provides to the ASX.
"We currently connect ASX to our PoPs in the Chicago and Hong Kong financial exchanges. We will now connect to additional points in these cities, as well as to London and Singapore," Riley said.
"Being the largest owner and operator of subsea cables in Asia with multiple connectivity options into the US and UK, we can offer more diversity and redundancy to our customers and the ability to quickly identify and address any network issues."
David Raper, executive general manager of Trading Services at the ASX, said the partnership will enable the exchange to offer new services to ASX Net Global customers.
"We have the functionality and flexibility to cater for a variety of customer connectivity needs, including those seeking the lowest latency or simply wanting more bandwidth," Raper said in a statement.
Last week, Telstra announced that the Australian McDonald's fast food chain will undertake a network transformation under a AU$90 million deal.
Telstra said at the time that it will roll out a fibre network to around 850 McDonald's venues across the nation, explaining that the fibre network will be used by the fast food chain to enhance its operations and provide customers with a connected brand experience, as well as increasing cost and time efficiencies for licensees.
The telco last week also laid out its roadmap for the Telstra Programmable Network (TPN), which offers Datacentre Interconnect; Exchange, to connect to Telstra and partner networks; and Marketplace, to install virtual network functions.
The roadmap includes virtualised customer premises, which will place virtual network functions on-premises, and Design Wizard for customer-led pre-designed templates.
Future releases will see managed services and dynamic IP for real-time control of IP VPN networks added to the TPN product suite.
Telstra director of Networks Mike Wright said last week that TPN is a precursor to the concept of network slicing, which segments a physical network into several virtual mobile networks and allows dedicated networks to have functionality specific to a customer or to the service being provided, and is a key 5G technology being tested by technology partner Ericsson.