On the stage of TOP-IX TALKS 2025, titled “Federating Infrastructures. Expanding Markets. Cloud and Interconnection: Federated Models for the Development of the Digital Ecosystem”, TOP-IX Executive Directors Andrea Casalegno and Leonardo Camiciotti, together with NAMEX CEO Maurizio Goretti, announced the launch of ARGO (IX-Fed – Federated Services between IXs), the first federation of services among Italian Internet Exchange Points.
The initiative brings together infrastructures and expertise to offer operators, content providers, and enterprises a shared ecosystem of connectivity and advanced services, with particular attention to the needs of small and medium-sized ISPs operating across Italy and the Mediterranean region.
At the end of the day, Davide Calonico, President of TOP-IX, and Renato Brunetti, President of NAMEX, signed the Master Services Agreement, which governs the operation of the service federation between the two Internet Exchanges.
A federated model for advanced services
ARGO was launched as a pilot project between TOP-IX (Turin–Milan–Genoa) and NAMEX (Rome–Naples–Bari), with the goal of progressively expanding to other Internet Exchange Points interested in sharing services and infrastructure through a federated approach.
At launch, the federation makes three services available in a one-stop-shop model:
- Distributed Interconnection
A network of 16 locations across Turin, Milan, Genoa, Rome, Naples, Bari, and Tirana that simplifies direct connections for organizations, companies, and cloud providers—creating a high-performance interconnected ecosystem while reducing latency and geographical bottlenecks. - Data Center Services
Colocation, cross-connects, and remote ends currently available in Turin (2 sites), Rome, Bari, and Naples. - Time as a Service (TaaS)
Distribution of precision time over optical fiber, based on PTP and NTP protocols, for mission-critical applications (broadcasting, smart grid, telecommunications, high-frequency trading), offering greater security and reliability compared to traditional satellite systems.
How the One-Stop-Shop model works
A single administrative environment that streamlines contracts and procedures, thanks to the shared non-profit consortium nature of TOP-IX and NAMEX: one single point of contact, harmonized rules, and coordinated access to federated services.
A concrete response to market needs
“At a time of significant changes in our sector, we have listened to the needs of our members, particularly the small and medium-sized ISPs that operate across local territories. With ARGO, we make cutting-edge services available while staying within the framework of each consortium, yet benefiting from a federated, open, and neutral ecosystem. Our collaboration with TOP-IX is the first step of a model we aim to extend to other Italian IXs,” comments Renato Brunetti, President of the NAMEX consortium.
“With ARGO, we bring to fruition years of work on sharing infrastructure and services,” adds Davide Calonico, Chairman of the Board of the TOP-IX Consortium. “Federation between Internet Exchanges allows us to offer operators more choice and higher quality, increase network resilience, and create the conditions for new services related to artificial intelligence, data, and distributed applications.”
The ARGO federation is open to the participation of other Internet Exchanges interested in sharing services within the IX-Fed framework, while upholding the principles of neutrality, interoperability, and cooperation between infrastructures.
