When Verizon balked at upgrading the NYSE’s telecom network sufficiently, the exchange resolved to create its own. After Labor Day 2002, the Securities Industry Automation Corporation announced it would provide a new telecom network for NYSE members called the Secure Financial Transaction Infrastructure – – a fiber-optic cable ringing Manhattan that NYSE members would hook into directly, eliminating their dependence on Verizon.
via Dead Phones Sent Wall Street Message (Part 2): Bratton and Tumin – Bloomberg.