This investment in the backbone infrastructure technology will provide IPC's customers with the most efficient highway connecting clients and execution venues across the region, including more than 4,000 market participants currently on-net. The Asia-Pacific optical network connects trading venues across major financial centres in Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. IPC has also added network capacity to Taipei and Korea to provide improved route diversity for customers in the region. The new platform offers users resilient service delivery with self-healing re-routing capabilities and has been constructed in conjunction with multiple tier-one carriers to ensure maximum performance.

"This recent upgrade is part of IPC's strategic plan to increase capacity throughout the Asia-Pacific region and connecting Europe and North America for the growing Ethernet services requirements and exchange connectivity that our customers demand," said Mark Curran, vice president, Network Service Operations, IPC. "We have invested significantly to ensure that the IPC network reaches virtually every trading destination globally, including alternative venues and those in expanding markets. IPC's customer service approach and ability to support quick access to liquidity with high service performance continues to ensure our global customers compete effectively and operate efficiently."

The optical network provides a flexible and scalable communications framework, and offers users improved service delivery times and connectivity to their trading partners across the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific network upgrade is part of the IPC's continuing commitment to its customers and follows the company's recent announcement regarding the expansion of its SIP-based Enhanced Voice Service (EVS) into Hong Kong and Singapore.