DENVER -- Have you noticed how complicated phone bills have become these days and how those "simple" plans, the ones you signed up for in the first place, now seem to be tougher to figure out than the dead sea scrolls?

And every one of those plans is costing more money. The plans are no longer cheap and simple, said Consumer Champ Bill Clarke.

Next month, MCI is raising fees on 19 long distance plans, anywhere from $1 to $2 a month. MCI has already boosted a surcharge that helps pay its property taxes -- really.

AT&T has added a monthly charge of $3.95 on its value rate plan and the surcharge on its 10-cent offer long distance plan is going up 20 cents. AT&T is tacking another 50 cents onto what it calls its recovery fee.

And all carriers have been given the OK to boost something called the universal service fee by as much as a $1.74 a month.

If you think maybe it's time to rethink your long distance carrier, a non-profit called the Telecommunications Research and Action Center, or TRAC, has a Web site that has probably the best information on long distance plans, along with some tips that could help you pick long distance plans best suited for your needs.

In most cases, it will not be one of the really big names, Clarke said.

You can get the information all off the Internet but it's not free. It's $6 to download and $7 if you want a printout mailed to you.