I can't say what is happening in your area. I do know that I've had one voice mail that was delayed for a couple of hours, but thats the only one.
I do read reports of what your talking about going on in metro areas though.
Verizon is getting ready to capitalize on this if I'm not incorrect.
They'll definitely be capitalizing on it out here with the iPhone. Almost everyone I know with an iPhone complains because (until recently) they couldn't get 3G service until they got closer to the metro. Within the last year, AT&T has added 3G coverage in Weatherford with a low-powered antenna that doesn't cover much area, but that's about it.
Verizon is 3G here, and a bunch of the iPhone fanboys are ready to pay the ETF to change... especially after playing on my Evo on Sprint (same towers as Verizon here). There's been a lot of times where I've let them look for something online with my phone, and they comment that I shouldn't hijack people's wifi. I show them that I don't even have the wifi on, and they get quite the attitude.