BELGRADE (AFP) - Nowegian-owned Telenor Serbia, already the country's second biggest mobile phone operator, has won a licence to develop a second fixed-line service to the state-run one.

"The government accepted Telenor's offer of 1.050 million euros (1.510 million dollars) for the licence," telecommunications minister Jasna Matic told Beta news agency.

The offer is expected to be formally confirmed on Friday by the executive board of Ratel, the state agency supervising telecommunications, the minister said, adding that the licence should be issued by mid-February.

"In that case Telenor should start providing landline and internet services in Serbia by the end of the year," Matic said.

Telenor already has 2.8 million cellphone users in Serbia.

State-controlled Telekom Srbija, 20 percent of which is owned by Greece's OTE, has so far had a monopoly in fixed-line services in the country of some 7.5 million people.