Newsroom

  1. TOP
  2. Newsroom
  3. AT TOKYO’s Data Centers to Offer PTP Service Meets Time Accuracy Requirements of MiFID II to Come into Effect in January 2018; Service to be Offered from Next Spring
  • Press Release

December 21, 2017

AT TOKYO Corporation

AT TOKYO’s Data Centers to Offer PTP Service
Meets Time Accuracy Requirements of MiFID II to Come into Effect in January 2018;
Service to be Offered from Next Spring

AT TOKYO Corporation (Headquartered in Koto-ku, Tokyo; President and Chief Executive Officer: Akira Nakamura; hereinafter referred to as “AT TOKYO”) announces that Precision Time Protocol (PTP *1) service will be offered at AT TOKYO Chuo Data Center (CC1) and AT TOKYO Chuo Data Center #2 (CC2) starting from next spring.
From January 3, 2018, the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II *2) will take effect in the European Union. Within this directive is a strict requirement for clock synchronization placed on financial institutions to ensure transparency in trading. Currently, clocks synchronized using the Network Time Protocol(*3 )have accuracy and granularity at the millisecond level, and is thus unable to meet this requirement.

PTP allows synchronization accuracy of microseconds or better, and is able to meet the time accuracy requirement of MiFID II. However, it is not only costly for customers to implement and operate PTP clock synchronization equipment on their own, but also requires customers to employ technicians to operate the equipment.
AT TOKYO has previously received requests from customers for PTP service to be provided at our data centers. Together with the expected future demand, we moved quickly to install equipment for synchronizing time using PTP at our data centers to provide this service to customers who require it.
The following are details about time accuracy requirements of MiFID II, features of AT TOKYO’s PTP service, and the service’s concept.

■Time Accuracy Requirements of MiFID II
・ Time standard

To be synchronized with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

・ Time accuracy (error from UTC)

Within 100 microseconds (for high frequency algorithmic trading)
・ Time granularity (unit for displaying time):

At least 1 microsecond (for high frequency algorithmic trading)

■Features of AT TOKYO’s PTP Service

・Superior cost-performance
By building our own equipment, AT TOKYO is able to provide PTP service at low price.
・High reliability
Within our premises, the connections between the GPS antenna, PTP grandmaster, and customer systems are provided using two full systems to guarantee redundancy.

With AT TOKYO’s launch of this PTP service, our data centers have become even more suitable for everyone who needs strict time synchronization, including our customers in the financial sector.
AT TOKYO will continue to flexibly adapt to the trends in various industries, and at the same time use our experience and operating knowledge as a data center provider to provide high-quality and reliable data center services of the world’s highest standards achieving mission criticality 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

*1 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is a time synchronization protocol based on IEEE 1588 for applications used by agencies requiring highly accurate time synchronization.
*2 Europe’s second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) is a comprehensive regulation over financial and capital markets by the European Union (EU) coming into effect in January 2018. It is a revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) which came into effect in November 2007.
*3 Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a protocol for accurately adjusting and synchronizing the internal clocks of computers over the Internet.
*4 Of all devices acquiring time from GPS and distributing time to PTP slaves, this device is the closest to the GPS time source. PTP slaves refer to devices such as servers which use PTP to carry out time synchronization.

>Please feel free to contact us by clicking HERE if you have any enquiries.

*All company names, product names and logos included in this press release are the Trade Names, Trademarks, and Registered Trademarks of their respective companies.
*The information contained in our news release is valid as of the date of announcement. Service and product fees, service contents, specifications, and other information may be subject to change without notice.

Contact Us

We will suggest a suitable plan for your request.
Please feel free to contact us.

Inquiry Form

Contact us by telephone
+81-3-6372-3503