WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 143 countries that own the global satellite communications provider Intelsat have voted to privatize the company, Intelsat said on Monday.
In a unanimous decision, the countries agreed to restructure Intelsat to guarantee its continued commercial viability, while maintaining connections for poorer countries that rely on the system to connect to the rest of the world.
Member countries established a working group to develop final restructuring plans by July 1, 2000 to be reviewed by all at a meeting in the fourth quarter of 2000, Intelsat said.
"The assembly's decisions mean that we can start to move rapidly and aggressively toward privatization,'' Intelsat chief executive officer Conny Kullman said in a statement, adding that the company's goal was to become private by April, 2001.
Comsat Corp., the U.S. provider of Intelsat services, is in the process of being acquired by defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. for $2.2 billion. In September, Lockheed acquired 49 percent of Comsat, but needs congressional action to complete its takeover.
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