Asia will be paying $55.1bn a year for broadband access by 2011, according to the latest market research.

The number of broadband subscribers in the region will triple in just five years, from 86.63 million last year, to 235.84 million in 2011, research firm In-Stat predicts. 

The lion's share of broadband revenue in Asia is currently being generated by a comparatively small section of the region's population.

Last year, more than 60 per cent of the region's total $20.7bn broadband revenue came from subscribers in just two nations: Japan and South Korea.

More than 62 per cent of South Korean consumers, and over 50 per cent of Japanese consumers, have broadband internet connections, according to Forrester Research. The figures for the UK and US are 35 per cent and 39 per cent respectively. 

A further 15 per cent of the broadband subscriber revenues in Asia come from areas with comparatively small populations, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and Singapore.

All other Asian nations, including population giants China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, account for only 25 per cent of the region's broadband subscriber revenue.

However, growth in the number of new broadband installations in more developed markets is slowing, and will continue to slow, In-Stat's analysts said. Much of the huge future growth predicted by researchers will come from new markets.

"In less developed markets like China and India, broadband access services are expected to demonstrate impressive growth through 2011, and constitute the bulk of Asia Pacific's broadband subscriber expansion," said Bryan Wang, a Singapore-based analyst with In-Stat.

"Wide availability of low prices in cyber-cafes in these markets is allowing people to experience broadband services without a fixed charge, which will stimulate potential new subscriptions."

Despite the rapid market growth, vnunet.com's analysis of In-Stat's data estimates only a slight fall in the average annual revenue generated from each broadband subscriber in the region, from $238.90 last year to $233.60 in 2011.