Global Crossing Financial Markets, a division of Global Crossing Ltd. (NYSE: GX) and provider of global network services to the financial services community, announced it will provide IP network connectivity services to Securities Dealing Systems (SDS). SDS chose Global Crossing Financial Markets for managing network connectivity, and connecting off-floor customers to the New York Board of Trade's (NYBOT) Electronic Order Routing (EOR) system.
SDS's Session Management System provides FIX 4.2 direct electronic communications between NYBOT's trading floor and traders and Futures Merchants. The Session Management System also provides a browser based front end for order entry over the Internet.
SDS will be able to rapidly deploy its Session Management System over the Global Crossing Financial Markets Extranet which already connects 1,500 end-user locations and over 60 market data and transaction providers globally. By adding SDS's Session Management System to its Extranet, Global Crossing Financial Markets will provide a means for firms to access NYBOT's FIX interface through dedicated connections and the Internet. As a result, Futures Commissions Merchants will be able to directly gain entry to NYBOT's EOR system.
Global Crossing Financial Markets also announced an agreement to distribute Withit.com's streaming media broadcast system to Global Crossing Financial Markets' clients globally. Under the agreement, Global Crossing and IPC Information Systems, a product division of Global Crossing Financial Markets and a supplier of voice trading systems to the financial community, will provide IP connectivity giving Global Crossing's customers immediate access to Withit.com's proprietary streaming media services and private Internet Broadcast Channels.
Withit.com's Internet broadcast capabilities will be integrated with Global Crossing's Hoot 'n Holler system and Financial Extranet to allow clients to easily and securely extend their media distribution across the Internet and to Internet connected networks and devices. Withit.com has been distributing live broadcasts within the financial markets since 1997. The Withit Media Management System features a complete suite of client control tools for all broadcast content, broadcaster access, and audience provisioning.
Global Crossing Financial Markets has a critical mass of financial participants that have access to over 60 market data and transaction services. Withit.com increases the benefits already realized by the Global Crossing Financial Markets Extranet and IPC Trading Systems by offering easily scalable media distribution solutions in secure and economical service packages. Withit services are currently used in the financial services markets for hoot network extensions, web casts, squawks, morning calls and research channels.
In a third contract move, Global Crossing Ltd (NYSE:GX ) announced it has entered into an agreement with DIRECTV, Inc., a provider of digital satellite television services, to provide broadband connectivity between the company's broadcast centers in Los Angeles and Castle Rock, Colorado. The connection will be used to transmit data, support a variety of rich media real-time applications, and enable high-capacity, highly scalable video transmission.
The OC-3 connection, which leverages Global Crossing's seamless fiber optic network that will stretch over 100,000 route miles and reach more than 200 cities, will enable DIRECTV to transport data for DIRECTV receivers equipped with UltimateTV and TiVo services and other applications between its primary and secondary broadcast centers. This agreement is the first step toward making DIRECTV an anchor tenant on the Global Crossing Media & Entertainment global extranet.
Global Crossing Media & Entertainment Markets is creating an advanced communications platform dedicated to the worldwide media and entertainment industries. Designed to optimize the latest applications for Film Production, Television Broadcast, and Digital Asset Management, Global Crossing's extranet enables the media and entertainment business community to digitally create, collaborate, store, and distribute products on a worldwide basis. This includes, in 2001, the development of a global Media & Entertainment extranet, enabling industry participants to exchange digital content over a secure, high-speed broadband connection. The extranet will connect geographically dispersed media facilities via the broadband exchange of TV-quality video, CD-quality audio, live event broadcasting, feature films and commercial production and on-demand applications.
About Global Crossing:
Global Crossing Ltd. (NYSE: GX) provides telecommunications solutions over an integrated global IP-based network. For more information, visit www.globalcrossing.com or www.asiaglobalcrossing.com
About Securities Dealing Systems:
SDS is a market data company providing a family of Real time and Delayed Market Data products for Professional Traders, Web Developers and Back-Office Systems. For more information, visit www.sdsmarketwatch.com.
About Withit.com:
Withit.com is a business-to-business streaming media services company that currently operates a wholly owned, end-to-end system of hardware, proprietary software products and services in support of its client's media distribution applications. For more information, visit www.withit.com.
About DIRECTV, Inc.:
DIRECTV, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation, is a digital satellite television service provider. For more information, visit www.DIRECTV.com.