In this paper we report on the characterization of a narrow linewidth three-section tunable slotted Fabry-Perot laser. The SMSR of the 25 available 100-GHz ITU channels is above 30 dB, whereas their average linewidth is 538 kHz with a maximum below 800 kHz. The RIN spectra of six different channels are also measured and a maximum average RIN of -135 dB/Hz is obtained. The linewidth effect of the laser in a 1.25 Gb/s DPSK transmission system is investigated by comparing the performance between the slotted Fabry-Perot laser and a commercial SG-DBR laser respectively. Error free transmission of the slotted Fabry-Perot laser shows the benefit of the narrow linewidth of the device for systems employing advanced modulation formats. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.