Methods, systems, and devices are described for bundling data transmissions in a wireless communication network. Bundled data transmissions may depend on subframe types and may account for multicast service single frequency network (MBMS) subframes. Bundled data transmissions may be repeated and a density of reference signals in the bundled data may be increased. The density of reference signals may be increased according to various techniques, including inserting additional pilot tones in the subframe, inserting additional pilot tones only in the bundled data, or adding additional pilot tones in one or more types of subframes. Multiple subframes used to transmit the bundled data may include, for example, a MBSFN subframe and a non-MBSFN subframe, and increasing density of reference signals may be performed differently for MBSFN subframes and non-MBSFN subframes. In some examples, bundled data transmissions are restricted to subframes of one type.
