NTELOS has filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an initial public offering that would raise up to $175 million in cash. Price and share terms were not disclosed for the offering expected to be underwritten by Lehman Brothers and Bear, Stearns & Co, Inc.

The company, which has about 48,000 access lines in rural Virginia and West Virginia and also operates as a Sprint affiliate, took the unusual step for an ILEC of filing for bankruptcy in 2003. Earlier this year, the company entered into multi-part refinancing with affiliates of Quadrangle Capital Partners LP and Citigroup Venture Capital under which Ntelos was sold to Quadrangle and CVC.

According to unaudited financial statements provided in filing, the company recorded $188.9 million in revenue the first six months of this year with a net loss of $269,000. For the full year of 2004, the company lost $3.7 million on revenue of $341.7 million.