Slightly OT: Universal Voice Lag in all Cell Phones?

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By far my biggest dislike in relying on Cell Phones for talking with people is the lag between when I say something, and the other person hears it. The net result is we're constantly talking over each other - starting to say something at the same time, each hesitates, starts over, etc., and it's just so incredibly frustrating.

Is this an inherent limitation in all U.S. wireless systems? I was on Alltel for more than a decade, and this always annoyed me. We have now been swallowed by Verizon, and the lag is just as bad. It has been present with every phone I've used, most recently the Razr V3c and now the HTC Touch Pro 2.

It's easily demonstrated - just call from your cell phone to another cell or land line at your location. Say something, and you can observe the significant lag before your voice is heard on the receiving end.

I never see this discussed, and it is by far, to me, the greatest limitation in using cell phones. Or is this more of a problem with Verizon (CDMA in general?), is it universal, am I unusually sensitive to this, or have I just happened to have bad phones and service for the last decade?

Comments, experience welcome.