Today, if a user wants to trace a network, they have to have an UN extension assigned to them. We understand, that this is Esri's business model, hiding trace capabilities behind the UN Server capabilities. We believe, that this is a simple action, almost a query on the dataset, very much like filtering or querying the data as opposed to editing features, which naturally requires at least an Editor user type. Tracing is not requesting more SOC's from the server, nothing is being processed, no other workflows follow a standard trace (compared to editing with f.ex. versioning).
We have talked to Esri about our point of view, and need now the support from the user base. The more customers support this idea, the better chances we have that Esri is rethinking its business model around tracing for viewers 🙂