nTelos is a wireless

Wireless

Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...

 telecommunications company based in Waynesboro

Waynesboro, Virginia

Waynesboro, deriving its name from General Anthony Wayne, is an independent city surrounded by Augusta County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 21,006 in 2010.....

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. nTelos is a provider of PCS

Personal Communications Service

At the most basic level Personal Communications Service or PCS describes a set of wireless communications capabilities that allows some combination of terminal mobility, personal mobility, and service profile management...

 services to customers.

Wireless services

nTelos Wireless operates a CDMA PCS network in Virginia, West Virginia, and portions of Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, and North Carolina. nTelos Wireless began acquiring PCS spectrum in western Virginia and West Virginia in 1995 and began operations in Virginia in 1997 and in West Virginia in 1998. nTelos Wireless expanded in July 2000 to include Eastern Virginia with the acquisition of these assets from PrimeCo Personal Communications, LP. In June 2004, nTelos began to offer high speed data services in select markets and in 2006 began offering 1xRTT capability across their service area. Currently nTelos offers 1XRTT and REV. A EVDO using Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services...

 technology. nTelos ended the year 2007 with 407,000 wireless subscribers.

Former services

A regional landline telecom provider since 1897, the company was originally named the Clifton Forge-Waynesboro Telephone Company (CFW). From 2000 to 2011, the services operated under the name of nTelos, with the wireline business divided into two operations: a rural local exchange carrier (RLEC) and Competitive Wireline, which includes competitive local exchange carrier

Competitive local exchange carrier

A competitive local exchange carrier , in the United States, is a telecommunications provider company competing with other, already established carriers ....

 (CLEC), network and internet operations. nTelos operated as a RLEC in Virginia and owns two incumbent local exchange carrier

Incumbent local exchange carrier

An ILEC, short for incumbent local exchange carrier, is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies , also known as the "Baby Bells." The ILEC is the former Bell System or Independent Telephone...

s and serves three rural Virginia regions. As a CLEC, nTelos provided service in 16 areas in Virginia and West Virginia.

The wireline business is supported by a fiber optic network that is used to back-haul communications traffic for their own retail services and to provide wholesale transport services to other telecommunications carriers for their long distance, internet, wireless and private network services. nTelos started FTTP services in certain areas of Virginia.

nTelos' wireline services were spun off into a separate company, Lumos Networks

Lumos Networks

Lumos Networks is a fiber optic network service provider. Its products include data, broadband, voice, and IP services over a 5,800-mile fiber network in Virginia and West Virginia, as well as parts of Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The company's formation was announced on August 8,...

, beginning in August 2011. Lumos became fully independent of nTelos at the close of business on October 31, 2011.