It's No Time to Call on Telecom ETFs

Like Hougan, who says that "ETFs are still the best way to play the category that I know of," Browne argues that buying telecom funds is a contrarian play right now. "There will be some time when telecoms will probably come back into favor, and the ETFs are as good a way to play them as any."

Of course, investors who can't stomach the prospect of waiting for the share prices of AT&T and Verizon to turn around have other ETF options in telecom. There is the PowerShares Dynamic Telecom (PTE Quote) ETF, which is more diversified than other telecom funds.

The diversification, though, comes at a price. "Only half the fund (52%) is actually invested in telecom," Hougan says. "The rest is invested in technology companies like Cisco (CSCO Quote) and TV providers like DirectTV (DTV Quote)."

Still, though, Browne says that nearly every telecom fund is treading a fine line between hold and sell. "They're not a screaming sell from my perspective, but they're not a buy," he says.