I'm confused. I thought they had switched it back to spawning on the squad leader only, and not just anyone in the squad. With it like that, the beacon is useful because a non-squad-leader recon can plant the beacon, and the entire team can spawn on the thing (instead of just your squad) as long as you live. So it would be in the best interest of the team if you planted the beacon, and then hid somewhere.
Imagine all the covered roofs in BC2, with attics accessible to the player. Plant a beacon in there as a recon, and suddenly you can get a good portion of the team spawned in there, and descend upon the enemy from however far behind enemy lines the recon had managed to get.
If I'm wrong though, and squad spawning isn't currently implemented like I thought it was, the usefulness of the beacon is diminished.