According to a new report from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, U.S. carriers spent more than $4.1 billion on advertising in 2007, 12% more than they spent in 2006. The study found that over $1.4 billion went to ads on broadcast television, with $816 million being spent on cable TV ads and spot television picked up just over $627 million.

The top five operators, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Alltell spent $3.89 billion of the total, up 16% from 2006 and higher than the industry average. According to the report, Verizon Wireless was the top spender, shelling out 1.2 billion on advertising in 2007, up 13% from the previous year.

Overall spending on advertising by the wireless operators has risen 67% since 2003, when the industry spent $2.45 billion.