Trading Safety For Speed

For Wall Street, every millisecond counts.


High Frequency Trading: Time is Money - Aviat Networks

According to Information Week Magazine: “A one (1) millisecond advantage in trading applications can be worth $100 million a year to a major brokerage firm”. Currently electronic trading makes between 60% and 70% of daily volume of NYSE¹. Tabb Group, a research firm, estimated that High-frequency traders generated about $21 billion in 2008.

Straighter Routes Microwave networks have shorter routes, reducing the total network distance and consequently further improving latency. Microwave links can overcome topographical obstacles such as rivers, mountains and highways while optical networks in many cases have to go around them or follow existing roads or bridges. In general, signals over fiber networks have to travel farther and thus take longer to get to their destination.


Wall Street gains an edge by trading over microwaves - GigaOM

Executing a trade even the tiniest fraction of a second earlier than a competitor can lock in the smallest change in pricing, which, when applied over massive volumes of shares or commodities, can translate into millions dollars. Aviat estimated said that a single millisecond advantage could equate to an additional $100 million a year to large high-frequency trading firm.

McKay isn’t revealing the exact route or number of towers of radios used in the network, which is scheduled for completion this summer, though it is sure to use as few links as possible. The more times a transmission passes from radio waves to electronic components the more it’s slowed down. Fiber transmissions have the same limitations, passing through routers and repeaters many times along their journey. McKay wants to ensure its not only using the fastest medium for transport but also that it has the fewest hops.