Right now, most communication to and from the Moon takes a few seconds. A radio signal from Earth will reach the Moon in 1.27 seconds, and take just as long to return. Most interstellar communication right now is carried on radio waves, and while it might still be used for non-mission-critical communications, it isn’t fast enough if there is an emergency.
Laser communication, on the other hand, could beam data, photos, and video nearly instantaneously.
Lasers and RF communication are- of course- both “light” , simply different portions of the electro-magnetic spectrum, both travel at the speed of light.