Whether you believe in the crypto aspect of it or not, the Helium network provides really good public LoRaWAN connectivity in a lot of places. Much easier than building out the whole network, including gateways and the backend. The cool part is that the LoRaWAN protocol allows you to keep your data totally encrypted to your app, and still use public networks.
Unfortunately, I would not build a business that relied on the Helium network because there's no way to tell if they're going to be around in a year or two. The main alternative - The Things Network - is quite popular in Europe but has less penetration in North America, unfortunately.
Helium is interesting because its literally everywhere in the US and western europe, everywhere people exist that is (not super remote mountainous regions).
I'd bet 99% of people reading this comment section have great coverage.
