Three major connectivity agreements were announced this week. AboveNet established a new low-latency trans-Atlantic connection between the New York and London markets;Global Telecom and Technology will now be providing gigabit Ethernet access to its network in Telx data centers and Equinix has connected two of its European data centers to a major Amsterdam Internet exchange.

AboveNet's new connections in the UK land in the greater London area: Slough, the Docklands and London proper. On the other side of the Atlantic, the connection reaches New York City's Manhattan Island and five New Jersey cities: Newark, Weehawken, Secaucus, Carteret and Clifton.

AboveNet is going after the financial sector, emphasizing low latency of the new connections and offering low-latency guarantees: round-trip access to New York and London markets in less than 1 microsecond.

"With venues such as Chi-X now operating out of Equinix in Slough and Nasdaq operating out of Carteret, NJ, we're seeing a growing requirement for low latency transatlantic connectivity," said in a statement Alan Berryman, director of sales and marketing for AboveNet UK. "We're expecting strong demand for our premium service from organizations such as investment banks, hedge fund operators, as well as foreign exchange and equities traders."

Telx customers now have access to GTT's network through direct gigabit Ethernet connections in eight of its US data centers, where the connectivity provider has already been a colocation and interconnection customer. The access is available through Telx's Dedicated Internet Access offering.

According to GTT, the company has relationships with more than 800 network operators worldwide.

"Telx has a long relationship with GTT, serving as their interconnection and colocation partner in eight key U.S. markets for four years," Telx CEO Eric Shepcaro said in a statement. "We are pleased to bring the unique value proposition of GTT's industry experience and innovative technology to our Dedicated Internet Access customers, giving them more choice in secure, network-neutral, low-latency connections that meet their business communications needs."

Two Equinix data centers in two Netherlands cities, Zwolle and Enschede, have been connected to Netherlands Internet Exchange (NL-ix), a large Amsterdam based interconnectivity provider. An Equinix data center in Amsterdam was connected to the NL-ix about one year ago.

"We want to offer our customers maximum freedom of choice in terms of network connectivity," Equinix General Manager Michiel Eielts, said in a statement."Connecting our data centers in East Netherlands with NL-ix is a critical part of this mission."