Telecom Companies Cash In on Explosive Growth of Cell Phone Usage.

Byline: Don Shilling

Jul. 16--Frustration with a broken pay phone prompted Steve Christofis to buy his first cell phone. Savings of $60 a month in long-distance charges convinced him he did the right thing.

Christofis is one of the millions of Americans who have contributed to a boom in cell phone use.

"People have overcome the resistance to it as a pricey executive thing," said Claire List, a Sprint PCS spokeswoman. "They look at it as a practical tool which fits their needs."

Christofis, 47, of Youngstown had no intention of buying a cell phone, but the broken pay phone at the mall left him frustrated and without the pizza he was trying to order.

"Some teen-agers walked by with cell phones. I thought, 'If they can have …