About the onboarding fees: the $40 fee is for full nodes (which were high powered enough to participate in consensus groups until July this year when the switch to validators).
Helium is working now to launch "light hotspots" the fee for which is $10. When light hotspots launch (retail price is ~$150) all current hotspots will get a software update.
Finally, the fees act as a spam/scam filter only while the proof of coverage concept is necessary. When (if) a sufficient volume of data is moving through the network, the fees will no longer be needed.
Helium is working now to launch "light hotspots" the fee for which is $10. When light hotspots launch (retail price is ~$150) all current hotspots will get a software update.
Finally, the fees act as a spam/scam filter only while the proof of coverage concept is necessary. When (if) a sufficient volume of data is moving through the network, the fees will no longer be needed.