Nairobi: Thieves targeting WiFi gadgets mounted on rooftops

The thieves have been busy harvesting Lite Beams and Power Beams used by small scale WiFi providers in poor settlements – popularly known in the estates as ‘Internet mwitu’.

Internet mwitu is common in informal estates and slum areas in Nairobi, often where land ownership is disputed.

Alphonse* told Wananchi Reporting that he was forced out of the 'internet mwitu' business after thieves stole all his internet gadgets.

“I lost a total of eight LiteBeams, and in a span of two months. The thieves would strike almost weekly. That’s a lot of money given one of such gadget, the small ones, cost between Sh6,500 and Sh20,000,” said Alphonse who now runs a cyber café in Eastlands.

“The thieves would climb on top of the seven-storey building where I had mounted the gadget, and steal it,” he said. 

According to Don Oti, an 'internet mwitu' provider, the theft thrives in places where tall buildings are planted very close to each other.

“The will jump from the adjacent building onto the next one to steal. It’s a dangerous thing to even attempt because one can lose his footing and fall,” he said.

The thieves also steal metal reinforcements used to anchor the gadgets onto the rooftops.

The Lite Beams and Power Beams gadgets are used for long-distance wireless broadband bridging.

“I know many people who have been forced out of business because their gadgets were stolen,” says Don who buys ‘internet’ from major players before reselling to small-scale users in low economy areas.

Although internet mwitu is a common headline in these low income estates, most residents who use them have always had issues with the quality of internet being sold to them.

“I use it because that’s what we can have in this area. Otherwise I have issues with its reliability,” said one Michael.

"I pay Sh1,700 per month for 5Megabits per second (Mbps) of internet mwitu. In reality, I only get utmost 2Mbps and it's always fluctuating; sometimes it's less than 1Mbps." 

"The major internet providers gave my estate a wide berth because the land is in contention, and there has been quite a number of demolitions in the estate in the past four years," said Michael.