Data describing the use of the Overland Telegraph Line are provided below for:

1. immediate use in October-November 1872;
2. for four weekly periods February 1873 to August 1875;
3. annually by Colony for 1872 to 1889.

At the time Todd was making his final connections to the OTL, gold was discovered at several locations in the Northern Territory - especially in the general Yam Creek area.

The news of these discoveries placed immediate pressure on the new line as possible prospectors tried to seek more details and to lodge claims. One report noted:

"By reason of the discovery of gold in the Northern Territory, the traffic upon it since the formal opening took place has been incessant but it has stood the test admirably. So complete is the insulation and so perfect the circuit that messages can be transmitted to Palmerston and replies received (in Adelaide) in ten or twelve seconds".

A return was prepared at for the Electric TelegraphOffice showing the amount of business handled on the British and Australian line since the opening of direct communication with London, on the 21st October 1872 to the 16th November 1872 - a period of four weeks. The total number of messages transmitted was 866, representing a monetary value of £9,158 19s. More than half the total number of messages - the value of which amounted to more than half the total receipts - were credited to Victoria. The following are the particulars relating to the different colonies:

Colony	Messages	Value
NSW	231	£2,701 6s 6d
Queensland	40	£510 14s 9d
South Australia	150	£1,121 5s
Tasmania	7	£78 15s
Victoria	438	£4,746 17s 9d
Total	866	£9,158 19s

Source: The Australasian, 30 November 1872, p. 19.

South Australian Chronicle
24 October 1874:

The following return shows the number of paid telegrams by Colony (N = 138) transmitted through the EasternExtensionAustralasia and China Telegraph Company's cable from Port Darwin for the week ending Friday, October 16 1874 by Colony:

	22 February 1873		11 September 1874		16 October 1874		August 13 1875
Colony	From	To	From	To	From	To	From	To
South Australia	14	13	3	4	11	2	19	11
Victoria	32	30	33	35	24	41	35	36
New South Wales	33	23	28	22	16	18	23	19
Queensland	3	3	4	3	10	5	4	5
Tasmania	1	1	2	0	1	2	-	1
New Zealand	9	2	9	3	4	3	4	3
Western Australia	-	2	0	0	-	1	-	-
Total	92	74	77	67	66	72	85	75

Sources:
22 Feb: The SA Advertiser, 24 February 1873;
11 Sept: The Brisbane Courier, 28 September 1874;
16 Oct: South Australian Chronicle , 24 October 1874;
13 Aug: South Australian Chronicle,21 August 1875

Data for transmitted and received telegrams by Colony for 1872 to 1889 are provided below:

Number of messages sent over the Overland Telegraph Line to Europe and the East: 1872 to 1889.

Year Transmitted Received Total NSW 1872 250 242 492   1873 1,429 1,362 2,791   1874         1875         1876 1,343 1,397 2,740   1877 2,251 2,401 4,652   1878 2,546 2,598 5,144   1879 2,961 3,081 6,042   1880 3,816 3,824 7,640   1881 4,822 4,345 9,167   1882 6,317 5,566 11,883   1883         1884         1885         1886         1887 8,162 7,044 15,206   1888         1889 9,599 8,612 18,211	Year Transmitted Received Total Queensland 1872 43 36 79   1873 200 141 341   1874         1875         1876 184 128 312   1877 507 294 801   1878 392 321 713   1879 347 343 690   1880 524 401 925   1881 863 603 1,466   1882 1,052 731 1,783   1883         1884         1885         1886         1887 2,477 1,837 4,314   1888         1889 2,622 1,997 4,619
Year Transmitted Received Total Sth. Aust. 1872 126 134 260   1873 472 469 941   1874         1875         1876 505 512 1,017   1877 916 1,003 1,919   1878 1,190 1,685 2,875   1879 1,324 1,887 3,211   1880 1,881 3,037 4,918   1881 2,361 3,208 5,569   1882 2,441 3,364 5,805   1883         1884         1885         1886         1887 2,988 3,710 6,698   1888         1889 3,321 4,801 8,122	Year Transmitted Received Total Tasmania 1872 8 6 14   1873 40 36 76   1874         1875         1876 28 24 52   1877         1878 83 84 167   1879 97 153 250   1880 200 250 450   1881 183 241 424   1882 210 265 475   1883         1884         1885         1886         1887 342 339 681   1888         1889 429 362 791
Year Transmitted Received Total Victoria 1872 405 554 959   1873 2,231 2,614 4,845   1874         1875         1876 1,091 1,453 2,544   1877 1,882 2,632 4,514   1878 2,596 3,383 5,979   1879 3,174 4,194 7,368   1880 4,271 5,232 9,503   1881 5,643 6,525 12,168   1882 6,094 6,803 12,897   1883         1884         1885         1886         1887 8,804 9,376 18,180   1888         1889 10,079 11,462 21,541	Year Transmitted Received Total West. Aust 1872         1873         1874         1875         1876         1877 3 8 11   1878 97 107 204   1879 138 160 298   1880 128 208 336   1881 194 232 426   1882 280 272 552   1883         1884         1885         1886         1887 695 541 1,236   1888         1889 744 520 1,264

Source: all data from Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Telegraphs, Victoria.
1872 data cover the period 22 October to 31 December, 1872.