maximum amount of money from ADSL users. This is mainly because Telkom offers extra bandwidth to users for a price. If the limit is exceeded during the course of the month, the ADSL connection is capped, denying international access to the web, while allowing access to local websites, until the end of the month. The user can purchase extra GBs after he/she is capped however. The typical monthly traffic limits can be used up in less than a day, even on low-speed lines. Shaping Another major criticism of Telkom was its institution of port prioritization or "shaping". This also was a measure introduced by Telkom in order for networks throughout South Africa not to become congested with too much information. However, port prioritization was an idea conceived mainly to benefit businesses in which employees all shared the same internet connection. Employees who used "bandwidth hogging" applications such as peer-to-peer (P2P) applications and network-intense online games often slowed down the network dramatically, preventing users who wished to browse web pages or check their mail to do so in a short space of time. Port prioritization solves this problem as it prioritizes certain ports for certain applications. It works according to a protocol which includes all ports and applications generally used in conjunction with them. These ports are sorted into a list of sorts. At the top of the list appear web browsing and email. These ports and the applications which use them receive the most bandwidth from the network. At the very bottom of the list are peer to peer applications, online games and virtual private networking (VPN). These receive very little if not no bandwidth from the network. Being unable to establish international VPN connections on the standard package has a detrimental effect on international freelancers who must pay for the much more expensive 'unshaped' service. Although it is the ideal solution for large companies, there is no choice in the shaping matter. Personal connections to the internet also get shaped. This has caused an uproar in the South African P2P and online gaming community as one has to pay over exorbitant prices (roughly two times more) to get their connections "unshaped." Fine In June 2013, Telkom accepted a R200 million fine to settle complaints that it used its dominant market position to block competition from other network providers. See also Hellkom MyBroadband Neotel SAIX (The South African Internet Exchange)