Google has denied that it is positioning itself as an ISP (internet service provider), despite considerable speculation.

A Google spokesman who declined to be identified said: “Google has no current plans to be an internet service provider outside of our pilot Wi-Fi projects in Mountain View and San Francisco. Our IPv6 allocation simply reflects planning for the day in the future when the services we currently provide via IPv4 will need to be accessible via IPv6.”

Wired.com comments: “Several sources have reported over the last year that Google has been quietly acquiring inactive or ‘unlit’ optical cable — otherwise known as dark fiber — a key ingredient used to build data networks.”

Alex Lightman, CEO of Innofone said: “This is why Google bought mobile dark fiber. It’s to go out and go: ‘All these bozos in America aren’t rolling out IPv6, so we’ll do it if they aren’t going to.’ ”