While there's not a ton of systems that interact with actual SIC signal in game, beyond SIC itself, there has been a gradual movement in that direction at least in theme (like phones and some cyberware), and I think it could be interesting to open design space by eventually having different levels of SIC 'blackouts' that could introduce gameplay that a binary on/off switch doesn't allow for. In a nutshell: Having more or fewer bars of service, instead of simply signal or not.
The most basic version of this I'm thinking of would be having two "bad" signal states, degraded and no signal, where degraded allowed for some connection like hearing public SIC but not broadcasting to it, or as eventually (as new grid/matrix systems were added in the future) allowing some passive elements to function while limiting others. Conceptually the implemention could be that indoor rooms get blackouts when blackouts occur, whereas major street locations retain degraded service.
What would be the point of this? Well, there are three intents behind having blackouts (at least as I understand them): Encourage players to get outside their pads and gather in signal boosted places, give safe danger zones for players to be attacked without being able to call for instant backup, and to illustrate socio-economic theme of poor public services.
The issues with single state degradation for meeting this first goal is, in my opinion, that being out on the street in Red Sector (versus somewhere with an amp) is not really any better off to being inside in an apartment (or only marginally so with more rooms to search through for signal), and I think there should be a lot more passive encouragement for players to be not just out at bars but out on the streets as a destination, and binary signal is too blunt to discourage apartment sitting and while encouraging street life.
As far as the second goal, degraded signal zones retain the same 'cover of darkness' to prevent help being called for, but also providing more encouragement for players to be on the streets because they're no longer just as good/bad as being inside compared to being at an amp, they're somewhat improved so could, in my view, encourage slightly more street roleplaying versus them just being places that most characters have to go between being in a bar or apartment.
Finally in terms of the last goal, I think two (or more) states of signal degradation could actually be even more interesting for illustrating the differences between different locations and their quality of life. As of now anything in the Mix either has signal or not, making all the different areas pretty much the same, whereas with degradation states it would be possible to illustrate the differences in gameplay between the thematic differences between Bansupuro Park and Little Kyoto, or between dark back alleys and major streets, or between crumbling ruins of buildings and the best living accommodations in the sector.
I am only really imagining this in terms of the Mix, but you could imagine this concept being expanded in the future with new mechanics scaling upwards into topside where better and better signal rising up sectors could be linked to additional benefits (like if your cyberbrain could benefit even more from super-connections on Blue compared to Gold).
