L 162/20 Official Journal of the European Union 21.6.2008 COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 2008/63/EC of 20 June 2008 on competition in the markets in telecommunications terminal equipment (Text with EEA relevance) (Codified version) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 86(3) thereof, Whereas: Commission Directive 88/301/EEC of 16 May 1988 on competition in the markets in telecommunications terminal  equipment (1)  has  been  substantially amended (%). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified. In all the Member States, telecommunications were, either wholly or partly, a State monopoly generally granted in the form of special or exclusive rights to one or more bodies responsible for providing and operating the network infrastructure and related services. Those rights, however, often used to go beyond the provision of network utilisation services and used to extend to the supply of user terminal equipment for connection to the network. The last decades have seen considerable technical developments in networks, and the pace of development has been especially striking in the area of terminal equipment. Member States have, in response to technical and economic developments, reviewed their grant of special or exclusive rights in the telecommunications sector. The proliferation of types of terminal equipment and the possibility of the multiple use of terminals means that users must be allowed a free choice between the various types of equipment available if they are to benefit fully from the technological advances made in the sector. The existence of exclusive rights has the effect of restricting the free movement of telecommunications terminal equipment either as regards the importation and marketing of terminal equipment (including satellite equipment), because certain products are not marketed, or as regards the connection, bringing into service or maintenance because, taking into account the () O] L 131, 27.5.1988, p. 73. Directive as amended by Directive 94/46/EC (O] L 268, 19.10.1994, p. 15). () See Annex II, Part A. characteristics of the market and in particular the diversity and technical nature of the products, a monopoly has no incentive to provide these services in relation to products which it has not marketed or imported, nor to align its prices on costs, since there is no threat of competition from new entrants on the market. Taking into account the fact that in most equipment markets there is typically a large range of telecommunication equipment, any special right which directly or indirectly limits the number of the under- takings authorised to import, market, connect, bring into service and maintain such equipment, is liable to have the same kind of effect as the grant of exclusive rights. Such exclusive or special rights constitute measures having equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions incompatible with Article 28 of the Treaty. Thus it is necessary to abolish all existing exclusive rights in the importation, marketing, connection, bringing into service and maintenance of terminal and telecommuni- cations equipment, as well as those rights having comparable effects — that is to say, all special rights except those consisting in legal or regulatory advantages conferred on one or more undertakings and affecting only the ability of other undertakings to engage in any of the abovementioned activities in the same geogra- phical area under substantially equivalent conditions. The special or exclusive rights relating to terminal equipment are exercised in such a way as, in practice, to disadvantage equipment from other Member States, notably by preventing users from freely choosing the equipment that best suits their needs in terms of price and quality, regardless of its origin. The exercise of these rights is therefore not compatible with Article 31 of the Treaty in all the Member States. The provision of installation and maintenance services is a key factor in the purchasing or rental of terminal equipment. The retention of exclusive rights in this field would be tantamount to retention of exclusive marketing rights. Such rights must therefore also be abolished if the abolition of exclusive importing and marketing rights is to have any practical effect. The maintenance of terminal equipment is a service within the meaning of Article 50 of the Treaty. The service in question, which cannot from a commercial point of view be dissociated from the marketing of the equipment terminals, must be provided freely in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty and in particular when provided by qualified operators.