How to approach 5G policies Innovation has been shifting economic emphasis from agricultural, natural commodity, industrial and electronic hardware assets towards software and processed data. National governments, national digital companies including telecoms, and other stakeholders in national economies may need new strategic approaches to turn this trend into an opportunity. 5G is a major milestone not only in national communications, but also for human life and societies, with a potential to boost their prosperity, security, health, environmental sustainability and inclusiveness. Digital policies governing 5G, and related technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), must be primarily human-centric. This means that they must be driven by interests and concerns of local consumers, employees, entrepreneurs and voters. When competition fails to provide true choices and value to the consumers, or to convincingly assure human freedoms and safety in the fast-changing digital ecosystems, locally or globally, elected governments may need to step in with their policy interventions as proxies of the public interest. Innovation as one of the key drivers of national competitiveness can be promoted by light regulation in the innovative areas, favourable conditions for disruptive innovators, support for infrastructure investments, easy access to shared infrastructures and support for research and development (R&D). We recommend policymakers to consider 5G-related interventions in the following five areas: 1. Encouraging the opening of tech standards, platforms and networks. We recommend selective policy interventions to encourage opening of tech standards, platforms and networks, particularly when competition is failing, and when such moves would bring benefits or reduce risks to the economies and societies. 2. Supporting diversity in business models for private 5G networks for Industry 4.0 and beyond. We recommend policymakers to consider allocating appropriate amount of the over 3GHz spectrum, i.e. spectrum suitable for local private 5G networks, on a flexible, localized, transparent and inclusive basis, making it directly accessible also to local entities interested in building their own private 5G networks. 3. Exploring synergies between digital communications, energy and other strategic infrastructures. We recommend policymakers to consider aligning regulations in telecoms and other utilities, particularly in power, to soften any potential regulatory barriers to synergic investments between these types of infrastructures and industries. 4. Transforming telecommunications post covid 19. We recommend policymakers to work with the telecoms and other stakeholders to formulate a vision of the future digital economy, among others around more deeply shared nationwide infrastructures as well as expanded role of telecoms as national digital service providers, trustworthy and secure providers of nationwide connectivity and guardians of private and public data. 5. Responding to concerns about health, security and control. We recommend policymakers to assure the public that they have a grasp on protecting its security, freedom and control over its own affairs amid a growing overlap between the virtual and real worlds, while showing their commitment to progress, readiness to take precautions against health and security risks, and support to continuous research in these fields. Key Highlights 9