As a result of the proliferation of antenna installations on WSSC structures, WSSC, on May 23, 1961, restricted such use of facilities to governmental agencies. In the same action, WSSC directed the removal of installations by all others by June 1, 1962. On November 30, 1961, the policy was amended to allow installations by bus companies serving the major population areas of Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.

In 1970, as a result of additional requests from private companies to utilize space on WSSC tanks for the mounting of antennas, the then-current policy was reexamined. During the evaluation, it was arbitrarily chosen which individuals or companies could use WSSC facilities due to the limited number available. As a result, on September 23, 1970, the 1961 policy (as amended) was reaffirmed.

In 1985, as a result of requests from cellular telephone companies, the policy was again reexamined. Since, within the spirit of the 1961 policy, public utilities had been permitted to install antennas on WSSC structures, the policy was broadened to not only include governmental agencies but public utilities, as long as they provided electric, gas, water, sewerage and telephone service within the Sanitary District and were listed under five broad utility categories as established by the Maryland Public Service Commission which regulated them.

In 2000, as the result of emergence of wireless data and other forms of wireless communications, and to transfer the responsibility from the Facility Maintenance Division to the Instrumentation/Communications Section of the Information/Technology Team, changes were again made to this policy. (Amended during 2019 codification; IT 00-01)