The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for a wireless communication between a base station and at least one mobile station. The method includes receiving a request for a data rate from the mobile station on a reverse link channel to the base station. The method further includes, in response to the request, skipping a first slot after a delay for a portion of a slot on a forward link transmission before transmitting a data packet in a second slot. By beginning the forward link transmission at the start of the second slot, for example, a software module may cause the base station to skip a slot immediately after the half slot delay. This additional delay of one slot or a portion of the slot may expand radius of a cell for a wireless communication between the base station and the mobile station in a relatively high-speed wireless data network.