Methods and apparatus are presented for improving the feedback of channel information to a serving base station, which allows a reduction in the reverse link load while allowing the base station to improve the forward link data throughput. Over a channel quality indicator channel, a carrier-to-interference (C/I) symbol is transmitted over multiple slots at a reduced rate, which increases the likelihood that the base station can decode said symbol. The reduced rate mode can be selectively triggered by a high velocity condition or other unfavorable channel condition. The C/I symbol is used to determine transmission formats, power levels, and data rates of forward link transmissions.