Flexible charging mechanism for shared spectrum usage

An apparatus comprising:

• a transmitter configured to transmit a message granting at least one channel of a shared spectrum to a base station;
• a receiver configured to receive heartbeat messages from the base station;
• and
• a processor configured to increment a usage of a connection between the base station and the apparatus in response to the receiver receiving information indicating that the base station has an active connection with the apparatus during a service time interval, wherein the processor does not increment the usage if the base station does not have an active connection with the apparatus during the service time interval, and wherein the processor is configured to charge a customer associated with the base station a cost based on the usage.

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including computer program code;
• the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
• granting at least one channel of a shared spectrum to a base station;
• incrementing a usage of a connection between the base station and the apparatus in response to the apparatus receiving information indicating that the base station has an active connection with the apparatus during a service time interval, wherein the processor does not increment the usage if the base station does not have an active connection with the apparatus during the service time interval;
• and
• charging a customer associated with the base station a cost based on the usage determined by the apparatus.