Here is a potential casualty of the U.S. government’s escalating fight against Huawei Technologies Co.: rural phone companies and internet providers that depend on the Chinese giant’s gear to connect their customers.
Large wireless providers including AT&T Inc. have long steered clear of Huawei, which has been effectively barred from big U.S. business since a 2012 congressional report alleged the Chinese government could force the company to exploit knowledge of how its equipment is designed to spy or launch cyberattacks—a...