The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has become one of the first customers for MCI's next-generation Ethernet services. MCI announced the customer win at the Interop show in Las Vegas.

The CME began turning on the new Ethernet services two weeks ago to expand its bandwidth to handle growth in its global electronic trading platform, CME Globex, said John Hart, director of network infrastructure at the futures exchange, in an interview at the show.

"T-1s only take you so far," he said, noting that MCI's Ethernet services will give the exchange something of a competitive advantage until MCI sells the services to another trading floor.

CME is offering MCI's Private Line Ethernet Services to connect more than 600 customers so that trades are quickly received and transacted, Hart said. CME is also planning to use the services this summer to keep up with growth in seven new European hubs and at its Asia-Pacific hub.

The new Ethernet services will be offered on a per-megabit basis beginning in July, MCI said. Pricing wasn't disclosed.

CME had worked with MCI for years on a range of services and found that the new Ethernet services were being offered in the same areas the exchange needed connections. That became one of the underlying reasons behind the decision to tap MCI, Hart said. Using Ethernet is a plus, since customers are already familiar with it, he said.

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