Method and apparatus for sharing radio frequency spectrum in a radio frequency communication system

A service center for authorizing the use of a radio frequency channel by at least one base station capable of being relocated among a plurality of geographic regions, the at least one base station sharing the radio frequency channel with stationary communication devices for communicating over predetermined geographic areas, the service center coupled to the at least one base station by a telephone network having automatic number identification (ANI) capabilities, the service center comprising:

• a telephone port for receiving from the telephone network information indicative of at least a portion of a telephone number from which the at least one base station is calling when the at least one base station couples to the service center;
• a database for storing information associated with the predetermined geographic areas over which the stationary communication devices communicate;
• and
• a processor coupled to the telephone port and the database for comparing the information indicative of at least a portion of the telephone number to the information stored in the database to determine whether the at least one base station is located within any of the predetermined geographic areas, the processor providing an authorization signal to the telephone port for transmission over the telephone network when the at least one base station is determined not to be located within any of the predetermined geographic areas, wherein the authorization signal indicates that the at least one base station is authorized for radio frequency communication over the radio frequency channel.