Avelacom Debuts South Africa Network, PoP for JSE Access

Russian low-latency network provider Avelacom has opened a new point of presence in Johannesburg, South Africa as traders from outside the region seek exposure to markets with greater volatility.

The new PoP will enable banks, high-frequency traders and hedge funds trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to access data from—and submit orders to—JSE with roundtrip latency of 155.8 milliseconds between JSE and datacenter operator Equinix’s LD4 facility in Slough, outside London, and to apply timestamps at the microsecond level.

Using a long-haul fiber network comprised of the shortest routes offered by third-party suppliers, Avelacom’s network runs down the west coast of Africa, culminating at the JSE, where Avelacom has installed Arista network devices for customer connectivity to the exchange, then runs a separate cable network offshore up Africa’s east coast for data backup.

“The demand for low-latency access to the South African market is just getting started. A new generation of global market makers (mostly US and UK-based companies)always keeps an eye on new markets, test new exchanges, diversify instruments, find hedging and arbitrage opportunities,” says Alina Karpichenko, global marketing manager at Avelacom. “They actively use algorithms and automation, and have well-developed IT infrastructure to cover major trading venues around Asia, India, and the Middle East. They are always at the forefront of finding new venues to trade on, they behave like innovators or early adopters. South Africa is considered to be a volatile market—this is one of the reasons why it’s appealing to them now. And low-latency access gives a great advantage to be successful here.”