Base stations and mobile devices have limited radio frequency spectrum through which they may communicate. Moreover, this spectrum is usually owned by a party having proprietary control. In order to allow for spectrum sharing, cognitive base stations (CBS) may be configured to select a radio frequency channel owned by another entity for its own use, and to determine how much additional noise it will create for such other entity. Based on this determination, the additional noise may be monetized, so that spectrum owners may be compensated for the additional noise created by use of their radio frequency channel.