In a market that’s moving up, down and sideways, income investors might find high-dividend defensive stocks a good way to achieve some degree of calm in this roller-coaster economy. Despite the sluggish economic news and competitive pressures from the cable industry, the domestic telecom sector is an interesting place to look if you’re rounding out income-based investment strategies.

True, telecom companies have been buffeted by adverse economic winds in the past — lower home sales in 2008 hurt the industry as the number of broadband customers fell. But U.S. telecom service revenue still hit $367 billion last year and is expected to grow at a 3% annual growth rate between now and 2016, according to Pyramid Research. While 3% growth is flat compared with many less mature sectors, high dividends sweeten the pot.

While there are a lot of big yields in domestic telecom services, it’s critical to choose wisely — today’s eye-popping dividend might not have what it takes to go the distance. While past performance is no guarantee of future results, savvy income investors are well served by favoring stocks that have a solid history of paying out dividends.

Here are three telecom companies to buy for the dividends:

CenturyLink (NYSE:CTL): CTL provides local and long-distance telephone service, high-speed Internet, data and video telecom services. It also is a wholesaler of local telecom network access. With a market cap of $19.23 billion, the company pays a dividend yield of 8.8% — and has paid dividends reliably for the past two decades. CTL’s payout ratio is 123%. The stock has a price/earnings-to-growth ratio of 2.02, indicating that it is overvalued. The stock hit a new 52-week low of $31.16 on Tuesday.

Frontier Communications (NYSE:FTR): Frontier’s focus is on the rural telecom services marketplace, providing voice, data, Internet and video services in markets traditionally underserved by major carriers. With a market cap of $5.76 billion, FTR pays a dividend yield of 12.3% — and has paid its dividend since 2004. FTR’s payout ratio is a stellar 469% — high enough to question whether it is sustainable over the long haul. The stock has a PEG ratio of 4.04, indicating that the stock is overvalued. The stock hit a new 52-week low of $5.33 on Tuesday.

Windstream (NASDAQ:WIN): Windstream’s business is split between IP-based voice, data and video services to business and government users and selling voice, high-speed Internet and digital TV to consumers. With a market cap of $5.68 billion, WIN pays a dividend yield of 8.6% — and it has paid a dividend for the past four years. Windstream’s payout ratio is 179%. The stock has a PEG ratio of 17.9, indicating that it is heavily overvalued. The stock, which hit a new 52-week low of $10.76 in August, has bounced back to $11.24.

As of this writing, Susan J. Aluise did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.