I can see this being useful for collecting field data of sorts, but unfortunately probably only in select urban areas. Coverage outside a few major cities is spotty or nonexistent.
But if someone is interested to give it a try in not-yet-covered areas in the US or elsewhere, let me know : devrelations@sigfox.com ; I could mail one for free in exchange of test feedback
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Hosting a public base station in exchange of discount/free subscriptions is something that could be considered. Again, feel free to reach out :) One thing to consider : Public base station means that other users will rely on it for their own devices, with a need for reliability (uptime, backhaul connectivity, ..)
What area are you thinking about ? In western/northern Europe, coverage is already pretty solid nationwide. Agriculture is one of the rising usecase: weather monitoring, soil chemistry, etc... Check sigfox.com/coverage for details about live coverage
As shown on this map, US coverage is mostly in some metro areas right now. But this is just the beginning there.
Let me know if you could be interested in testing it.
It's special low-power long-range radios that covers many miles per tower and they are installing a ton of them all across the world.
It is absolutely intended to NOT be limited to urban areas.