Good point!
On the other end of the continuum there are also time outs of 10 minutes in a 19 x 19 AST with 10 minutes playtime per person. And sometimes black waits for close to 10 minutes before placing the first stone in the game. I can imagine that white is not there anymore or has forgotten about the game. So the time out period can also be used as a tactical (but rather anti-social) strategy to win the game.
Furthermore other players in the tournament have to wait longer than necessary for the next round.
Maybe some readjusting of time out periods for blitz and normal games (anything with up to 30 seconds per move) is something to think about?