I think efforts such as TTN could be very important drivers in shaping how the big commercial providers position their offerings. Echoing @flavio's comment, I think TTN should strive to compete on economic value, not only philosophical values (ref. the manifesto, see https://github.com/TheThingsNetwork/Manifest). Don't get me wrong, the manifesto is really important, but I think most people (e.g. 99%) only care about TTN in the context of what it can do for them and how much it will cost, i.e. the perceived value.
I believe the network effect is really what's going to make this effort sink or swim. If I'm running the only gateway in town, it'll be difficult for me to justify buying a TTN bike tracker that only works in my neighborhood. Now if I could convince my two buddies to run a TTN gateway then my value would increase significantly, though it wouldn't do anything for them. So how can I sweeten the deal for them? If I can offer a solution to a real problem they have it'd be a lot easier so perhaps a smart door buzzer, a key finder, or a motion activated alarm for their patio door would do the trick? A healthy marketplace where consumers are able to easily get what they need would do wonders in terms of increasing the number of gateways, I believe.
On a similar note, I wonder if there's an acceptable model where an entity is incentivized to finance and deploy gateways, but with the promise of getting paid back for their expense. For instance, I could probably convince a few coffee shops and stores to allow colocating a gateway, but if I also asked them to pay EUR 200 for it, I think I'd have a problem. If there was a way for me or them to make the EUR 200 investment and then get a return on that investment until the gateway is paid off then it might be a different story. If we go back to the bike tracker example, let's say I'm enjoying my coffee and somebody attempts to steal my bike. I'm alerted to the fact and am able to prevent it. Now, the bike tracker is a commercial product that I'm paying for on a subscription basis. The provider of that service charges me $10 a month. What if the entity that financed the gateway got paid every time a high-value packet (e.g. 'somebody is trying to steal your bike', 'your kitchens smoke alarm is on', 'your front door is open', etc) passed through its gateway? As a service provider I would be interested in helping fund the network coverage on a no cure, no pay basis as it would strengthen the appeal of my product and not prevent me from making a profit. I think Sigfox has a great message here when they say the network fee for a smoke alarm should be around $1 per year. In this scenario there would be no fee after the gateway is paid off.