Verizon Business is upgrading the exchange's global wide area network (WAN) communication infrastructure to further enhance high-speed data transmission and message-broadcasting capabilities.

The network upgrade will be provided by Verizon Ethernet Private Line services, with a speed of 10 megabits per second (Mbps), upgradeable to 100 Mbps. Verizon Business' fully managed Ethernet services also underpin the delivery of various new London Stock Exchange service offerings, including TradElect, launched on June 18. This high-speed delivery mechanism increases the rates at which data can be sent out to the market, allowing core customers to receive information more quickly.

The London Stock Exchange is one of the world's premier international equity exchanges, with companies from more than 60 countries trading on its markets. With a reputation as one of the most reliable and innovative stock exchanges in the world, the exchange's continued success is dependent on its ability to offer secure and timely transmission of critical market data and pricing information to its clients, no matter where they are based.

The exchange's communication infrastructure must therefore be able to support consistent, reliable and secure data delivery, as well as offer flexibility and scalability to support the exchange's ongoing service- expansion plans.

Wendy Morgan, head of real-time information, London Stock Exchange said, "Our customers around the globe depend on the consistent reliability, security and speed of our exchange. In the delivery of market-critical data, any downtime means a loss in trading, which is unacceptable. Our new network guarantees us top-level business resilience and continuity, providing us with the confidence that we can deliver every second of the business day."

As part of its managed services provision, Verizon Business monitors the exchange's network performance round-the-clock, including usage profiling to support planned enhancements. Full resilience is provided including extensive equipment mirroring and backup circuits at the exchange's primary and secondary disaster recovery sites as well as at customer sites.

Stuart Curzon, regional vice president, Verizon Business, said, "The London Stock Exchange has a well-earned reputation for technology innovation. The trading environment is one of zero-fault tolerance, and our ongoing relationship with the London Stock Exchange is testament to the strength of Verizon Business' managed services capability, and particularly our ability to develop a tailored, flexible solution to meet the exchange's specific and evolving business requirements."

In addition to the Verizon Ethernet Private Line upgrade, the Exchange's contract extension also includes a network router refresh to Cisco 3825 or 7301 routers depending on the customer's support requirements, and the provision of Verizon Internet Dedicated and Verizon Direct Voice services. The implementation utilizes a series of STM-16 networks that will be installed into the exchange's main data center.