Switch and Data (NASDAQ: SDXC), a leading provider of network-neutral data center and Internet exchange services, announced today that Hudson Fiber Network (HFN) will launch its new Exchange Connect platform in Switch and Data’s North Bergen, NJ data center. With a guaranteed service level agreement (SLA) of 750 microseconds, HFN believes that its new Exchange Connect platform provides the lowest latency network available to high-frequency traders. Premier Ethernet data provider HFN is the most recent carrier to join Switch and Data’s North Bergen site, enhancing the value of its financial ecosystem and adding to the site’s robust carrier density.

HFN reports that Exchange Connect features 200 to 400-microsecond actual performance to the leading financial markets, including NYSE/SFTI, NASDAQ, BATS, and Direct Edge. With a guaranteed SLA of 750 microseconds, HFN announces that Exchange Connect sets a new industry performance milestone. This offering means that Switch and Data’s centrally located North Bergen site provides a single location with unmatched performance for trading firms in the equity markets.

“In an industry where microseconds matter, enabling clients to increase trade order fill ratios is at the forefront of our concerns,” said Brett Diamond, President of Hudson Fiber Network. “We chose Switch and Data because of its proximity to the markets, access to fiber networks, and its financial ecosystem, which includes leading service providers, and many buy and sell-side firms.”

Trade volume in April 2008 was seven billion trades per day, and a year later it has increased to 12 billion. In addition to sub-millisecond exchange access, Switch and Data’s site offers the financial community space and power to scale their operations to keep pace with this drastic increase in transaction volume. The 163,000sf North Bergen data center is built to Switch and Data’s latest high-performance standard and can support up to 200 watts/sf of power and cooling capacity.

“In the quest to reduce latency, HFN’s Exchange Connect platform in North Bergen sets a new standard for high-speed access to the financial markets,” said John Panzica, Vice President of Switch and Data’s Financial Services Practice. “This relationship with Hudson Fiber Network provides Switch and Data’s financial clients with a single location that provides the lowest latency access all of the leading equities markets. This helps our customers improve performance and minimize expense.”

For more information about Switch and Data’s Financial Services Practice and HFN’s Exchange Connect platform, visit BOOTH #2311 at the SIFMA conference which begins today in New York.