"This is a time for defensive measures, and one defensive stock idea is Telefonica (TEF); based in Madrid, Spain, Telefonica is a world telecom leader, with more than 280 million customers in 25 countries," notes Mark Skousen.

The editor of Forecasts & Strategies explains, "The company has a particular emphasis on Latin America. Telefonica offers landlines, cell phones and services, network leasing, cable and satellite television, and broadband services. It also is expanding rapidly in Asia in a partnership with China Unicom.

Rural broadband and telecom provider Windstream Corp. (WIN), first discussed here on January 18, 2010, at a price of $10.92, remains in a bouncy uptrend; hence the shares are not for the squeamish. However, if you can tolerate the volatility and you're patient, you're likely to be rewarded with WIN. Here's why.

Windstream, with a presence in 16 states, will likely post a 2% to 4% revenue gain in 2011 as broadband subscriber increases offset a phone revenue decline. Windstream should also benefit from a rise in business broadband subscription as business formation increases with the U.S. economic recovery. An impressive $1 annual dividend adds to the positive story.

"Telefonica SA (TEF) is a member of our model portfolio; it meets 100% of the criteria we use in our James P. O'Shanghnessy growth and value model," notes John Reese.

The editor of Validea explains, "The company operates in three business areas: Telefonica Spain, Telefonica Latin America and Telefonica Europe."

He continues, "The O'Shanghnessy approach -- called the Cornerstone Value Strategy -- looks for large, well known companies whose market cap is greater than $1 billion.

This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"The good folks at AT&T (T) have seemingly accomplished what all the kings horse's and all the king's men could not; they have put Humpty Dumpty back together again," says dividend specialist Michael Minney.

The editor Investment Quality Trends explains, "While not a mirror image of the 'old' Ma Bell, the latest incarnation of AT&T is arguably much better.

This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"Mobile TeleSystems (MBT) is Russia's largest telecommunications group and mobile services provider," notes global stock specialist Yiannis Mostrous.

The editor of The Silk Road Investor explains, "The company -- with operations in Russia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus -- is my top investment idea for 2011.

"Our latest featured breakout stock is American Tower (AMT), which recently moved to a new 10-year high," says Leo Fasciocco.

The editor of Ticker Tape Digest, who focuses on stocks breaking out of technical basing patterns, explains, "With annual revenues of $1.9 billion, the company operates wireless communications towers, broadcast communications towers and distributed antenna system networks.

"The firm's wireless and broadcast towers consisted of towers that it owned and towers that it operated pursuant to long-term lease arrangements. They include 20,000 towers in the U.S. and 7,000 towers in Mexico, Brazil and India.

"Research In Motion (RIMM) is clearly undervalued at 9.7 times forward EPS; investor's concerns regarding the intense competition in the smart phone market have caused the stock price to decline 26% during the past seven months," says value investor J. Royden Ward.

The editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter explains, "We believe exciting new product introductions will boost sales and earnings growth more than expected during the next couple of years.

"I still see fresh opportunities in this market, such as Vodafone (VOD), the world's leading mobile telecommunications company," says Mark Skousen.

The editor of High-Income Alert explains, "The company has a significant presence in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. It currently has more than 350 million customers.

"The company operates under a number of brand names. In the United States, the group markets its products through Verizon Wireless.

"The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust (GGT) has been around since 1994; the closed-end fund invests in traditional global telecommunications, media and entertainment industries -- along with newer interactive media products and services," notes income expert Amy Calistri.

The editor of The Daily Paycheck explains, "Since its inception, the fund has returned an average of +5.85% per year. But there are two reasons to believe GGT will do even better than that in the foreseeable future.

"In a number of respects, Motorola (MOT) is the quintessential 'special situations' stock; indeed, I like the various investment angles -- company break up, asset sales, buying by a big insider, a re-energized product line," asserts Chuck Carlson.

The editor of The DRIP Investor explains, "The firm is in the midst of a major restructuring, which includes selling off assets and splitting the company into two separately traded entities.

"The breakup, scheduled for next year, will separate the company's handset phone business from its enterprise mobility business.

Sprint Nextel (S) reported Wednesday that its first-quarter net loss increased due to 1.5% lower revenue. The telecom giant's loss checked in at 29 cents per share, 8 cents wider than last year's same-quarter loss. Removing charges stemming from an increased valuation allowance for deferred tax assets from the equation, Sprint lost 17 cents per share. The post-charge loss matched the consensus estimate.

Sprint's revenue totaled $8.09 billion, better than the expected revenue of $8.05 billion. Sprint added that it lost 75,000 net subscribers during the quarter. But when the company compared the results to a year ago, the telecom firm's improvement in post-paid gross subscriber additions and prepaid gross subscriber additions were the highest in five years.

"On the operations front, it's all coming up roses for AT&T, Inc. (T) this year; as such, we have selected the stock as our latest 'Growth Spotlight'," says utility sector specialist Roger Conrad.

The editor of The Utility Forecaster explains, "The company reported a 24.4% boost in fourth-quarter 2009 earnings, with its extremely profitable alliance with Apple activating 3.1 million iPhones."

If you are looking for high yielding stocks you will find the telecommunications industry is quite obliging. AT&T, Inc. (T) is currently paying a 6.4% yield and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) is offering 6.25%. Given that these are such low beta stocks, I have a hard time rationalizing keeping much money in Certificates of Deposits or Treasuries for the peanuts they are doling out.

While these yields are very generous there is a stock that might have you extending your investment world "down under" to Telecom Corp New Zealand (NZT), as they will reward your journey with a 10.99% yield. This is an outstanding return and allows you to diversify your portfolio outside the U.S. but still trade on the NYSE.

Here's another one of those stocks that I didn't buy and then found myself sadly watching from the sidelines as it rose higher. A year ago, I proffered a bearish reading on the prospects for telecom entity Qwest Communications (Q). Well, shares of Qwest have done well over the last twelve months. Should I now allocate some investment capital to this idea?

One might argue yes. After all, the company is up at the time of this writing on the Q4 numbers. However, I just don't feel compelled to buy. Especially not after all the declines I see in the release.

Usage and demand for wireless data services is surging; according to the U.S. FCC data use has soared by over 700% in just the past four years alone," says Neil George.

In his Stocks that Pay You, he says, "We suggest you look at four companies involved in different aspects of the developing 4G network, which will provide for easier handling of more data, particularly in mobile devices."