in the Azores, the company announced yesterday.

In San Diego, California yesterday BTC vice president of corporate development Eugene Saunders signed the agreement with a joint venture company of France Telecom and Alcatel, known as TE.SA.M.

The director general of the joint venture which is already developing service in continental Portugal, Jean Bernard Lagarde, also signed the agreement.

Under its terms BTC -- the Globalstar franchise service provider for the Azores -- assigned the primary commercial elements of the service to TE.SA.M.

Globalstar is a digital telecommunications system based on a constellation of 48 low orbit satellites which has set out to provide worldwide coverage.

BTC said in a statement that Globalstar was "well suited to serving territories with limited cellular mobile coverage or even lacking fixed telecommunications infrastructure'' like rural or lightly populated areas.

The company's president and CEO Lorraine Lyle said BTC was pleased with the completion of the agreement which provided an "optimum arrangement'' for BTC from an administrative perspective.

She said the agreement allowed BTC to maintain its corporate interests in the development of the Globalstar service outside of Bermuda.

Residents of the nine islands of the Azores archipelago could expect a Globalstar service comparable to that for residents of continental Portugal to be available by the end of 1999, the statement from BTC said.

And it said the company aimed to provide "excellent level of customer care service''.

It is anticipated that the Globalstar service should be initiated progressively through the area by the end of 1999.