How Huawei ban is impacting U.S. rural township

World
Europe

03:17

American lawmakers have introduced legislation to provide 700 million U.S. dollars in grants to compensate the domestic telecom providers for the cost of removing Huawei equipment from their networks.

But the small local wireless providers are concerned about the negative impact on themselves, as the move to replace the Huawei equipment from their networks could be both costly and time-consuming.

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 regions, has found itself at odds with the U.S authorities.

As the local wireless provider, Nemont Telephone Cooperative much relies on Huawei equipment, which was described as "security risk" by the Trump administration and the Federal Communications Commission.

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

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 if the network is shut down, even temporarily, he is concerned about the safety risks.

"I've had friends who have had problems before and thank god they had their phones with them, so they could make that phone call. The other thing we talk about in this community is that 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," said Kevin Rasmussen.