HTC Incredible :: Poor Reception / Low Signal?

I work in a location where the phone is without a signal about 35%-40% of the time. Naturally, my battery suffers terribly and I often need to charge it sometime during the work day to ensure it makes it until bedtime. Due to firewall/security issues, my phone is my only way to get to my Gmail. I also spend a lot of time on the move, from meeting to meeting, so it's advantageous to leverage my Exchange sync. Typically, I'm able to get emails right away, as the signal drops in and out frequently as opposed to being completely unavailable for long stretches of time.

I guess what I'm looking for is a way to reduce consumption without reducing connectivity. I'm already shutting off GPS. I'm leaving Wifi on for now, as I've got rules on things like Tasker and Setting Profiles that rely on finding specific access points. What I've really been thinking about is having a Tasker setup that turns the Mobile Data Network on and off periodically (say, 1 minute on and 10 minutes off). Does that sound like a viable option? I've heard folks say turning the data network off can cause sync issues, but I'm hoping that turning it back on periodically will solve/prevent all that. Anyone have experience with something like this? Any other ideas for power savings, especially as it may be relevant to a low-signal environment? I also make sure I'm on auto-brightness and am more aggressive about screen timeouts.