We demonstrate direct modulation of a heterogeneously integrated C-band DFB laser on SOI at 28 Gb/s with a 2 dB extinction ratio. This is the highest direct modulation bitrate so far reported for a membrane laser coupled to an SOI waveguide. The laser operates single mode with 6 mW output power at 100 mA bias current. The 3 dB modulation bandwidth is 15 GHz. Transmission experiments using a 2 km non zero dispersion shifted single mode fiber were performed at 28 Gb/s bitrate using a 2(7)-1 NRZ-PRBS pattern resulting in a 1 dB power penalty.