The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that the most attractive feature of the telcos is their unpopularity. The Globe's David Berman writes that BCE's yield, in particular, has been approaching an unheard of 9 per cent. Despite the alluring dividend, analysts remain cautious ahead of the upcoming earnings season. "It is difficult to recommend adding exposure to telecoms ahead of what we believe will be a tough quarter as we anticipate there could be additional downward estimate revisions," said Desjardins' Jerome Dubreuil. Analysts point to slow revenue growth and high expenses related to restructuring activities and fibre network build-outs. A mere four out of 14 analysts who cover BCE say "buy." Analysts are more enthusiastic about Telus. Even so, the number of "buy" recommendations has been falling -- to 11 out of 18 analysts, down from 15 out of 18 analysts just a year ago. If high dividend yields are flashing danger, at least in BCE's case, then perhaps they are reflecting muted dividend increases or none at all, leaving little downside risk should the quarterly distributions stagnate. The view that inflation will eventually subside seems reasonable, and could make a bet pay off over the longer term.