New Communications Infrastructure Will More Than Double NasdaqSpeed and Capacity to Ensure Record Reliability
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- November 20, 1997 -- The Nasdaq Stock Market and MCI (Nasdaq: MCIC) today announced development of a new communications infrastructure for its electronic trading network that in its first phase will more than double Nasdaq's speed and trading capacity. The new network initially will be able to handle a four billion share day and can be scaled up to eight billion shares per day. A new six-year, $600 million agreement between the two parties will represent MCI's largest commercial outsourcing contract to date.
Under terms of the new deal, MCI will replace the existing system that supported Nasdaq's recent 1.37 billion share record day and create a network that will foster Nasdaq's growth into the next millennium. Company officials said that the new Enterprise Wide Network II (EWN II) will employ state-of-art network hardware and software to produce one of the world's largest, most sophisticated, custom intranets, delivering time-sensitive information from Nasdaq's technology centers to traders nationwide.
"While the current system serves us extremely well, with projected increases in share volume and market participants, we need to stay ahead of the curve and enhance our system now to handle growth well into the future," said Frank Zarb, Chairman, CEO and President of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.(NASD). "To accomplish this, we once again turn to MCI to bring Nasdaq to a higher level of technology and performance."
Nasdaq set share volume records on October 28, 1997, as the first U.S. stock market to exceed one billion shares with a daily close of more than 1.37 billion shares traded. On that day, Nasdaq was the only U.S. stock market to display continuous real-time price quotes without interruption or delay for all of its listed companies from open to close. As a result, investors were able to buy or sell any Nasdaq-listed stock at any time throughout the record trading day.
The upgrade, to be completed over an aggressive 18-month schedule, will use Digital Equipment Corporation services and AlphaServer computers as well as Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) 7500 series and 12000 Gigabit Switch Routers throughout the custom, high-speed IP (Internet protocol) network, operating at speeds up to 45 Megabits per second. At the heart of the network, an MCI designed intelligent node architecture provides secure, reliable and simultaneous data transmission to brokers monitoring stocks, placing trades and querying the market for real-time information in a PC environment.
MCI will continue to manage the network fully with dedicated staff and facilities located at Nasdaq's data centers in Trumbull, Conn. and Rockville, Md., as well as MCI's Network Operations Center in Cary, N.C.
"MCI is proud of its long-standing association with The Nasdaq Stock Market as both a technology and trading partner, " said Bert Roberts, MCI Chairman. "Together, we pioneered the concept of a full-service data communications solution that has greatly contributed to our respective successes. We look forward to a continued, long-lasting relationship with the most technologically advanced stock market in the world."
As Nasdaq's primary technology partner, MCI provides a variety of network management services for Nasdaq, including the Intelligent Shared Network (ISN), the system used for Nasdaq's Stock Market Broadcast services, and dedicated internetMCI high-speed access to Nasdaq's Websites, http://www.nasdaq.com and http://www.nasdaq-trader.com.
Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Stock Market is the fastest growing stock market in the United States and the world's largest electronic market. Nasdaq is a subsidiary of the NASD, the largest securities industry self-regulatory organization in the United States. For more information on Nasdaq, visit its Web site at http://www.nasdaq.com.MCI
MCI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., offers the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of communication services. With 1996 revenues of $18.5 billion, MCI ranks as one of the world's largest telecommunications companies. MCI is also the world's third largest carrier of international voice traffic and operates one of the world's most advanced Internet networks. Since its founding in 1968, MCI has been a leader in bringing the benefits of long distance competition to businesses and consumers and is now leading the charge to open U.S. local calling markets to competition. On November 10, 1997, MCI announced a definitive merger agreement with WorldCom, Inc. (Nasdaq: WCOM), to form a new company called MCI WorldCom.Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is theworldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News and information areavailable athttp://www.cisco.com.
Cisco, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
