Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for uplink (UL) data channel design. An example method is provided for operations which may be performed by a first apparatus. The example method generally comprises determining a number of pilot symbols to transmit for one or more slots of a first subframe based, at least in part, on a coverage enhancement (CE) level, and transmitting at least one uplink data channel having the determined number of pilot symbols in the one or more slots of the first subframe.