WINTHROP – One of Maine’s largest Internet service providers is dropping its dial-up Internet service next year.

CommTel will stop providing dial-up service on Jan. 31, 2002, David Nitchman, a spokesman for the Winthrop-based communications company, said Wednesday.

Nitchman said the decision to drop the service was made several months ago.

CommTel’s approximately 6,000 dial-up customers will have the option of having their service transferred to Prexar, a Bangor-based Internet service provider.

Most dial-up customers are residential users, but a few businesses also subscribe, Nitchman said.

CommTel will continue its other Internet-related services, including Web hosting, data storage and data services.

No jobs are expected to be cut because of the decision on dial-up service, Nitchman said. The company laid off 65 workers from its sales, marketing and engineering departments last month, citing the slowing economy.

The company also recently said it was postponing plans to build a $45 million data center in downtown Portland. The center would include a network access point – a hub that would ease Internet traffic – where companies could store their computer servers and other equipment in a controlled, secure environment with multiple power sources.

Nitchman described CommTel’s agreement with Prexar as a partnership rather than a sale. He would not disclose the financial terms of the arrangement.

Prexar is one of 25 to 35 Internet service providers that remain in Maine, according to the company’s marketing director, Martha Stevens. There were more than 100 in the state about three years ago, she said.

Stevens attributed their demise to the surging cost of equipment for high-speed Internet access and dwindling profit margins.