WASHINGTON – Congressional negotiators provided much needed relief to Lockheed Martin late Thursday by reaching an agreement that allows the aerospace giant to purchase Comsat Corp. for $2.7 billion.

The measure, which ended 17 months of political wrangling, removed harsh provisions that would have ultimately killed the deal with Comsat.

The compromise still has to be voted on by the full Congress and then enacted into law, something that industry officials believe will happen swiftly.

Lockheed and Comsat then will have to clear regulatory hurdles with the Federal Communications Commission.

Lockheed Martin first announced its intention to acquire Comsat in September 1998. The move is significant because it will allow Lockheed to compete more vigorously in the telecommunications marketplace by offering customers wider choices.

The deal will also give Lockheed access to key markets in Latin America and Asia through its network services unit, Comsat International.

"We will be looking for additional partners for strategy investments as well as for global expansion," Manor said. Lockheed is planning an initial public offering of Comsat stock when and if the deal goes through.

Lockheed Martin bought 49 percent of Comsat last fall for $1.2 billion, but the company needed legislation to acquire the remaining shares because of strict rules governing Comsat.

Comsat -- also based in Bethesda, Maryland -- was created by Congress in 1962 to keep then-telephone monopoly AT&T from extending its control to international satellite communications. Because Comsat was the only company with access to a global network known as Intelsat, Congress had declared that no single investor could own more than half of Comsat.

The Senate passed a bill last year giving Lockheed the green light to complete the acquisition, and called for the privatization of Intelsat, a 143-nation consortium based in Washington.

In the House, a broader piece of legislation was passed which also removed the 49 percent cap on purchasing Comsat.

Thursday night’s compromise allows competing companies to go directly to Intelsat to purchase access to its 19 satellites without having to go through Comsat.

But, those companies can’t invest in Intelsat, which Lockheed argued would strip Comsat of its value.

Intelsat does plan to sell shares to the public between October 2001 and December 2002. It must also go private by April 2001, otherwise it can’t venture into high-tech growth markets such as direct broadcast and high-speed internet access.