Techniques for puncturing symbols in a communications system. S symbols are received for a frame having a capacity of N symbols, with S being greater than N. P symbols need to be punctured so that remaining symbols fit into the frame. A number of puncture distances, D1 through DN, are computed based on S and P. A particular number of symbol punctures is determined for each computed puncture distance. P1 through PN symbol punctures are then performed at the distances of D1 through DN, respectively. For a more even distribution of the symbol punctures, each of the distances D1 through DN can be selected to be greater than or equal to a minimum puncture distance Dmin defined as Dmin=.left brkt-bot.S/P.right brkt-bot., where .left brkt-bot. .right brkt-bot. denotes a floor operator. The symbol punctures at each computed distance can be performed together or distributed with symbol punctures at other distances.