The Australian Stock Exchange announced today it has committed $32 million to build a new datacentre to meet its space requirements and medium to long term back-up needs.

The datacentre will be located on the outskirts of the Sydney CBD and the financial services giant aims to have it completed by August 2011 and fully operational in Q4 2011, if not before.

In a statement released this morning, the ASX said migration to the new datacentre would allow it to expand its co-location hosting services, including providing co-location benefits to both cash equities and futures market participants.

The company provides co-location hosting because it enables market participants to conduct trades with near-zero network latency, because their equipment is in the same physical location as ASX’s own trading systems.

A spokesperson for the ASX said manufacturers for the new datacentre’s equipment had yet to be chosen, because detailed design was still being completed. The ASX’s IT workforce will not change as a result of the plans.

Image credit: Whrelf Siemens, royalty free

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1. David Olsen
   Posted 11/06/2010 at 10:10 am | Permalink | Reply

   This is aimed squarely at the high frequency traders looking to share rack space on-site so their battle-bot algorithms have extra low latency connections. (latency matters in HFT)

   I’m also guessing the announcement by the ASX is a preemptive move to ward off HFT’s from co-locating with ASX rival ChiX which is due to start operating next year, breaking the monopoly the ASX has on share trading in Australia.

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 11/06/2010 at 11:12 am | Permalink | Reply

     I can’t wait until we have a bit more competition in this market … the ASX is certainly arrogant enough about their monopoly. But didn’t we have some other state- or city-based rivals to the ASX? Newcastle, if I remember correctly?

2. David Olsen
   Posted 11/06/2010 at 11:22 am | Permalink | Reply

   The ASX has a monopoly over share trading in Australia, ChiX will be the first competitor in recent times. (there may have been others previously.. but not currently)

   The ACCC approved a merger between the ASX and Sydney Futures exchange a few years ago, but they compete in seperate markets so there was not likely to be a lessening of competition by the merger.

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 14/06/2010 at 5:18 pm | Permalink | Reply

     I guess you do have to wonder, though, whether Australia is truly big enough to support more than one major player.