Fixnetix Unveils Hosted Low-Latency Service
From A-Team Group’s Market Data Insight, January 2007: London-based Fixnetix Ltd. last month quietly unveiled its iX-Direct so-called ultra low-latency data service. The new hosted service uses Level 2 non-routed fibre network to connect institutions’ trading operations directly with European exchanges, for direct access to high-speed market data services.
Building the high-performance technology infrastructure required to support low-latency data delivery into algorithmic trading models and other electronic trading facilities has, to date, required significant capital expenditure and high ongoing maintenance costs. By offering 100 megabit/second delivery with no router hops at a lower price than existing providers, Fixnetix hopes to address the challenge of ultra-low-latency data provision at reasonable expense.
The company is taking a hosted service approach. The company describes iX-Direct as an “outsourced end-to-end market solution [that] provides the fastest data feeds with guaranteed service levels at a cost-effective price.” Fixnetix provides direct data from major exchanges, electronic communication networks (ECNs), multilateral trading facilities (MTFs), investment bank systematic internalizers (SIs) and brokers globally.
Available feeds cover equities, bonds, futures and options and foreign exchange. By aggregating and mapping multiple iX-Direct feeds, Fixnetix can create a real-time single consolidated order book that allows institutions to comply with their best execution obligations, such as those required under the EU’s MiFID Directive.
Fixnetix reckons it is the first telecommunications company to become a vendor of record with a number of major exchanges around the world. This, it says, allows it to provide data direct from source and reduce transmission times by hundreds of milliseconds. iX-Direct is delivered over a resilient global fibre network with simple plug-in Ethernet connectivity. No data feed handlers or servers are installed on-site. This ensures minimal resource, easy integration and flexible data transformation to multiple vendor interfaces. The company’s ticker plant technology is compatible with data models offered by the major trading room platforms, including Reuters Market Data System (RMDS) and Triarch, Tibco Software’s TIB/Rendezvous and the Wombat Platform.
