This IDC study presents a summary of the results from a recently fielded survey of telecom companies with over 1,000 employees. IDC surveyed 50 IT and network managers in North American telecom (wireline and wireless), ISPs, and cable operators as to their top product and service priorities, areas for investments, and leading equipment/IT suppliers.

Not surprisingly, Cisco is the company most commonly cited as being one of the main equipment providers, mentioned by 64% of respondents, followed by Alcatel-Lucent at 26% and Nortel at 18%. Top areas for products and services investments are broadband access, converged services and applications, MPLS Carrier Ethernet, and service delivery platforms.

"IDC's recent survey of leading North American telecom service providers indicates that almost all companies plan to continue investment in their network environments, with investments in broadband, converged services, and MPLS Ethernet leading the way," according to Lee Doyle, group VP, Network Infrastructure.