Google is preparing to release its own wireless Internet service, Google WiFi, according to several pages found on the company’s website.

The Internet search leader refers to a product called “Google Secure Access” which is designed to establish a more secure connection while using Google WiFi”, according to a page of FAQs at http://wifi.google.com/faq.html. A separate page at http://wifi.google.com/download.html offers a free download of Google Secure Access.

Google declined to comment on the issue.

The start of a WiFi service would move Google away from its core Internet search service and into the competitive world of Internet service providers and telecommunications giants.

Speculation about a coming Google WiFi service has been rife since August, when an article appeared in Business 2.0 magazine, but the company has refused to discuss its plans.

WiFi is an increasingly popular technology that is used to provide high-speed wireless Internet access in homes, business and public spaces like airports and cafes.

Google opened a sponsored WiFi hotspot in San Francisco’s Union Square district in April with a start-up called Feeva.

The FAQ page says the Google Secure Access service is in ‘beta’ stage, meaning the company does not consider it a fully finished product.

Google, which is rapidly expanding beyond its core Internet search service, introduced an instant messaging service called GoogleTalk in August. – International Herald Tribune