For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:

1. 1.

   ‘terminal equipment’ means:

   1. (a)

      equipment directly or indirectly connected to the interface of a public telecommunications network to send, process or receive information; in either case (direct or indirect), the connection may be made by wire, optical fibre or electromagnetically; a connection is indirect if equipment is placed between the terminal and the interface of the network;

   2. (b)

      satellite earth station equipment;

2. 2.

   ‘satellite earth station equipment’ means equipment which is capable of being used for the transmission only (‘transmit-only’), or for the transmission and reception (‘transmit/receive’), or for the reception only (‘receive-only’) of radio communication signals by means of satellites or other space-based systems;

3. 3.

   ‘undertaking’ means a public or private body, to which a Member State grants special or exclusive rights for the importation, marketing, connection, bringing into service of telecommunications terminal equipment and/or maintenance of such equipment;

4. 4.

   ‘special rights’ means rights that are granted by a Member State to a limited number of undertakings, through any legislative, regulatory or administrative instrument, which, within a given geographical area:

   1. (a)

      limits to two or more the number of such undertakings, otherwise than according to objective, proportional and non-discriminatory criteria; or

   2. (b)

      designates, otherwise than according to the criteria referred to in point (a), several competing undertakings; or

   3. (c)

      confers on any undertaking or undertakings, otherwise than according to the criteria referred to in points (a) and (b), any legal or regulatory advantages which substantially affect the ability of any other undertaking to import, market, connect, bring into service and/or maintain telecommunication terminal equipment in the same geographical area under substantially equivalent conditions.