The system has 10 to 1,000 times greater capacity for data transmission than radio links.

....It then transmitted its own 2.5-watt, 1,550-nanometer laser and modulated it to send the video at a peak rate of 50 megabits per second. According to NASA, OPALS transmitted the video in 3.5 seconds instead of the 10 minutes that conventional radio would have required.
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/opals-laser-co...asa-iss/32449/