London Metal Exchange to launch super-fast network in October

LMEnet part of £30m investment project at the London Metal Exchange

The London Metal Exchange (LME) is working with telecoms company Colt to build and launch LMEnet, a dedicated network intended to provide market participants with a fast, reliable and secure connection to the Exchange's electronic systems, including LME Clear, the Exchange's new clearing system set to launch in September.

LMEnet will run over Colt's dedicated trading network service, PrizmNet, and will support three tiers of connectivity for LME users, depending on their performance and latency requirements. LMEnet will also use Colt's new service-management tool, enabling users to monitor latency and bandwidth use with significantly increased granularity.

"By switching to LMEnet, the LME community will benefit from reduced latency, increased resilience and improved control over how they interact with our electronic systems," said Robin Paine, chief technology officer at the LME.

He continued: "We have invested a significant amount in technology over the past 12 months, with more than £30m devoted to IT projects and systems development, excluding LME Clear."

The LME expects to move users to the new system within nine months of Colt's technology being deployed and tested, with migration slots available from October 2014 - one month after the launch of LME Clear.

The LME handles approximately 80 per cent of the world's trading in metals, mostly electronically via its online systems, but also by phone and physically in its open-outcry trading floor in the City of London.