About a-team Marketing Services

A-Team Insight Blogs

Perseus Beats Rivals to Live London to Frankfurt Microwave Service

Subscribe to our newsletter

Perseus Telecom has announced that it has been in live operation since last October with a London to Frankfurt microwave service linking key marketplaces in each financial centre. The announcement comes as rival Colt Technology Services confirmed to Low-Latency.com that its microwave service – based on a network built by Custom Connect MW – is undergoing final tests, but is yet to go live.

Perseus CEO Jock Percy declines to say which technology partners it has worked with for its service, or indeed what they are providing. Likewise, he is not saying how many firms are using the service. He does venture, however, that it is not working with Custom Connect, and that its proprietary service has been “successful and availability is excellent.” For its part, Custom Connect previously said it had sold 60% of the capacity on its service.

Both Perseus and Colt are offering microwave service between NYSE Euronext’s Basildon data centre (housing the Euronext cash and Liffe derivatives markets) and Equinix in Frankfurt (where Deutsche Boerse’s cash and its Eurex derivatives market are housed). Trading strategies that arbitrage between the markets benefit from the lowest latency of transactions.

Both services offer essentially the same latency. Colt does not provide performance data, but Custom Connect says its network has a Basildon-to-Frankfurt roundtrip latency of 4.74 milliseconds, while Perseus quotes “less than 4.6 milliseconds.” Similarly, both are citing 99% or higher uptime.

In addition, Perseus is linking into other London data centres to connect to the London Stock Exchange, London Metal Exchange, Bats Europe, and other markets. Percy declines to outline the network topology it has deployed.

In addition to microwave, Colt also offers fibre connectivity between Basildon and Frankfurt, an offering also provided by Perseus. Percy says it has three fibre routes in place, the fastest being less than 8.3 milliseconds roundtrip.  When weather conditions make microwave unreliable, trading firms need to revert to fibre for communications.

In addition to Colt, Fixnetix is also selling capacity on the Custom Connect network as part of its managed service offering.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Upcoming Webinar: The Role of Data Fabric and Data Mesh in Modern Trading Infrastructures

23 September 2025 10:00am ET | 3:00pm London | 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 Minutes The demands on trading infrastructure are intensifying. Increasing data volumes, the necessity for real-time processing, and stringent regulatory requirements are exposing the limitations of legacy data architectures. In response, firms are re-evaluating their data strategies to improve agility, scalability, and governance....

BLOG

AI, Cloud, Digital Assets, Cybersecurity – What to Expect at TradingTech Summit 2025

A-Team Group’s 14th Annual TradingTech Summit London is set to take place on 27th February 2025 at the Hilton Canary Wharf, bringing together industry leaders, innovators, and experts to explore the latest advancements in financial markets trading technology. Kicking Off the Conversation: Innovation, AI, and the Future of Trading Following the welcome address, Cathy Gibson,...

EVENT

AI in Capital Markets Summit New York

The AI in Capital Markets Summit will explore current and emerging trends in AI, the potential of Generative AI and LLMs and how AI can be applied for efficiencies and business value across a number of use cases, in the front and back office of financial institutions. The agenda will explore the risks and challenges of adopting AI and the foundational technologies and data management capabilities that underpin successful deployment.

GUIDE

Entity Data Management & the LEI

Just over a year since the Financial Stability Board handed over leadership and direction of the interim Global Legal Entity Identifier System – or GLEIS – to the Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) of the LEI the entity identifier is being used for reporting under European Market Infrastructure Regulation. This report discusses recent developments in the...