Lawmakers in the U.S. are considering giving 700-million-dollars to help American telecom firms remove Huawei equipment from their networks. It comes after concerns the equipment could be used to spy on Americans. But small firms worry about the negative impact on their regions and say the replacements would be expensive and time consuming. CGTN's Dan Williams reports.

In the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Montana just a few kilometers south of the Canadian border, lies the quiet town of Scobey. According to a recent survey, Scobey is among the top three "hardest to reach" small towns in America. But the region's wireless provider, along with many others across rural America, has found itself at odds with U.S. authorities. Nemont Telephone Cooperative relies on Huawei equipment. The Trump administration and the Federal Communications Commission argues that is a security risk and want it removed.

MIKE KILGORE CEO, NEMONT TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE "Nobody in their right mind would shut down a network and shut down public safety. Sometimes I equate it to flying in a jet with two engines. And you want to replace one of the engines at 30,000 feet. Probably not a good idea."

The main push behind the move is the allegation that the equipment could be used as a backdoor for spying.

"If any foreign government wanted to spy on us through this type of technology, it wouldn't matter if this equipment is from China or from the U.S., or from wherever."

Mike Kilgore says, in his experience, that threat is over-hyped.

MIKE KILGORE CEO, NEMONT TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE "In the United States, we have a constitution. We are innocent until proven guilty and all of that, right, so let's find the guilt. But that sort of guilt is not real apparent to the operators who are using it today."

DAN WILLIAMS SCOBEY, MONTANA "Although this area is home to some stunning scenery, it is not a lucrative region for cellphone networks to operate with just twenty thousand people living in an area of around 50,000 square kilometers."

Kevin Rasmussen has farmed here for 28 years. A nearby communications tower, allows him to keep up to date with the latest planting data as well as vital weather reports. But more importantly, if the network is shut down, even temporarily, he is concerned about the safety risks.

KEVIN RASMUSSEN MONTANA FARMER "I've had friends who have had problems before and thank god they had their phone with them, so they could make that phone call. The other thing we talk about in this community, we've had some really bad fires in the past, even a couple this year. Without that cell service, it wouldn't have been taken care of so quickly."

Carrie Bennet is the general counsel for the Rural Wireless Association. She says to rip and replace the network would be costly and would take years.

CARRI BENNET GENERAL COUNSEL, RURAL WIRELESS ASSOCIATION "The money is absolutely not available, make no qualms about this. Our members are relying on Universal Service Funds as it is. We've estimated in our filing with the federal communications that it could be anywhere from 3-7 years to replace the networks."

Back in Scobey, Mike Kilgore hopes it doesn't come to that. Given some of his customers rely on older cellular technology that is not easy to replace. Huge swathes of rural America will be watching developments closely. Dan Williams, CGTN, Scobey, Montana.