AT&T, pushing high-end mobile devices such as the iPhone, said Wednesday it posted quarterly operating revenue of $31.1 billion, up from $30.3 billion a year earlier. Declining demand for voice offerings and upfront costs involved with carrying the iPhone, however, curbed net income, which came in at $2.4 billion, down from $3.1 billion in the previous year.

"The nation's top telecom service providers continue to do strong business, even as the economy continues to burden the rest of the business world," said telecom analyst Jeff Kagan in an e-mail message. "As customers continue to watch where they spend, they continue to pay for the basics like telephone and wireless and television and broadband."

This may not be the case for Sprint Nextel, however. The wireless company said Monday it will lay off about 8,000 employees this year. It will report its fourth quarter in two weeks.

Recently, market researchers have cut forecasts for global IT spending. Companies such as Forrester Research now expect a global decline in IT spending, measured in dollar terms.

Given the disappointing earnings news over the past two weeks and IT vendors' lack of visibility into customer spending plans, it may be only a matter of time before market watchers cut the annual forecasts yet again.