The small signal frequency responses of partly gain-coupled 1.55 mum strained MQW DFB lasers were measured with a record -3 dB bandwidth of 22 GHz at 10 mW optical output power. Experimental results show that under 10 Gbit/s pseudorandom NRZ modulation, the devices have small wavelength chirps and clear eye openings making them suitable as light sources for direct modulation in 10 Gbit/s and higher bit rate optical communication systems.