HARDWICK, Vt. (AP) — Lightning-fast Internet connectivity, telemedicine advances and even robot surrogates in classrooms are just a sampling of what state leaders and telecommunications companies like VTel hope will be coming to Vermont in the near future.

On Tuesday, VTel rolled out a statewide high-speed communications network in Hardwick that will serve sections of rural Vermont. Officials think it can be the first step in a wave of increasing technological capabilities for the state.