A method and corresponding codec for (channel) encoding speech or other data bits for transmission via a wireless communication channel, the method providing unequal error protection (UEP) using only a single encoder, and including: a step of determining how many bits to puncture in each of typically two protection classes (C.sub.A C.sub.B) so as to achieve either a predetermined or iterated desired level of error protection; and a step of identifying which bits to puncture for each class so as to provide relatively strong and uniform protection for all bits in the first class (C.sub.A), but protection that decreases in the same manner as the subjective importance decreases from the beginning to the end of the other classes. The method also accounts for so-called soft puncturing by modulators transmitting multiple bits per symbol with weaker protection for some of the bits of each symbol.