Mobile’s public transportation is the Wave Transit System which features buses with 18 fixed routes and neighborhood service. Founded in 1927, Bishop State Community College is a public, historically African American, community college with four campuses in Mobile. Protestant schools include St. Paul’s Episcopal School and Faith Academy.
It features the Arches of Friendship, a fountain presented to Mobile by the city of Málaga, Spain. Bienville Square is a historic park in the Lower Dauphin Street Historic District. Mobile has more than 45 public parks within its limits, with some that are of special note. It was established to serve as an easily accessible gateway to the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta.
In many countries, mobile phones are used to provide mobile banking services, which may include the ability to transfer cash payments by secure SMS text message. This radio frequency link connects to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, providing access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Defunct companies that had been founded or based in Mobile included Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company, Delchamps, and Gayfers.
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This database of laws provides a comprehensive view of the provisions of laws that restrict the use of mobile communication devices while driving for all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1992 when first law was passed, through 1 December 2010. A study conducted by the University of Vienna examined approaches for reducing inappropriate and problematic use of mobile phones, such as using mobile phones while driving. In 2013, a national survey in the US reported the number of drivers who reported using their cellphones to access the Internet while driving had risen to nearly one of four. This has introduced additional difficulties for law enforcement officials when attempting to distinguish one usage from another in drivers using their devices. Due to the increasing complexity of mobile phones, they are often more like mobile computers in their available uses. In other countries, including the UK and France and in many US states, only handheld phone use is banned while hands-free use is permitted.
In February 2014, 93% of mobile developers were targeting smartphones first for mobile app development. There are a huge variety of apps, including video games, music products and business tools. The first mobile news service, delivered via SMS, was launched in Finland in 2000, and subsequently many organizations provided “on-demand” and “instant” news services by SMS. A common data application on mobile phones is Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging. Of the two, Android has been the best-selling system worldwide on smartphones since 2011, and as of March 2025, Android had 71.9% of the overall market share, while iOS had 27.7%.
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Atlantic Marine operated a major shipyard at the former Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company site on Pinto Island. Despite the expansion and addition of two massive new cranes, the port went from 9th largest to the 12th largest by tonnage in the nation from 2008 to 2010. According to the 2024 American Community Survey estimates, the average family size was 3.13 people. In 2014, the majority of the population were Christians, with 36% identifying as white evangelical Protestant, 18% identifying as black Protestant, 13% as mainline Protestant, and 7% as Catholic.
History
It was founded in 1989 to identify, challenge, and educate future leaders. The State of Alabama operates the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science on Dauphin Street in Mobile, which boards advanced Alabama high school students. Public schools in Mobile are operated by the Mobile County Public School System (MCPSS). For 2024, the city received $281.7 million in sales tax, $34.5 million in property tax, and $90.1 million for services such as business licenses. Of the property tax paid in the city, 11% goes to the city, 32% goes to the county, 10% goes to the state, and 47% goes to the school districts.
History
Early mobile phones required vehicle installation due to their size and power needs. These 0G systems were not cellular, supported a few simultaneous calls, and were very expensive. The advances in mobile telephony onlyspins have been traced in successive “generations”, starting with the early zeroth-generation (0G) services, such as Bell System’s Mobile Telephone Service and its successor, the Improved Mobile Telephone Service. The race to create truly portable telephone devices began after World War II, with developments taking place in many countries. Early predecessors of cellular phones included analog radio communications from ships and trains. The growth in popularity has been rapid in some places; for example, in the UK, the total number of mobile phones overtook the number of houses in 1999.
- Enabling contactless payments through NFC-equipped mobile phones requires the co-operation of manufacturers, network operators, and retail merchants.
- On May 25, 1865, the city suffered great loss when some three hundred people died as a result of an explosion at a federal ammunition depot on Beauregard Street.
- French Canadian brothers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville founded the site to establish control over France’s claims to La Louisiane.
- Beyond traditional voice communication, digital mobile phones have evolved to support a wide range of additional services.
- In Europe, regulations and technology have allowed the limited introduction of the use of passenger mobile phones on some commercial flights, and elsewhere in the world many airlines are moving towards allowing mobile phone use in flight.
- By 1860, Mobile’s population within the city limits was 29,258 people.
- Former systems would cover a service area with one or two powerful base stations with a range of up to tens of kilometers’ (miles), using only a few sets of radio channels (frequencies).
- The port is also home to private bulk terminal operators, as well as a number of highly specialized shipbuilding and repair companies with two of the largest floating dry docks on the Gulf Coast.
- The Fort Louis de la Louisiane was built on a bluff that today is 27 miles (43 km) upriver from the Mobile River’s mouth.
- Eventually, the idea spread and in 1999, the Philippines launched the country’s first commercial mobile payments systems with mobile operators Globe and Smart.citation needed
- Since the change to single-member districts, more women and African Americans were elected to the council than under the at-large system.
- Current companies that were formerly based in the city include Checkers, Minolta-QMS, Morrison’s, and the Waterman Steamship Corporation.
- 3G is able to provide mobile broadband access of several Mbit/s to smartphones and mobile modems in laptop computers.
The Motorola Razr V3 and LG Chocolate are two examples of devices that were popular for being fashionable while not necessarily focusing on the original purpose of mobile phones, i.e. a device to provide mobile telephony. A study by the London School of Economics found that banning mobile phones in schools could increase pupils’ academic performance, providing benefits equal to one extra week of schooling per year. While there are rumors of mobile phones causing cancer, there was a study conducted by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that stated the there could be an increase risk of brain tumors with the use of smartphones, this is not confirmed. Screen time, the amount of time using a device with a screen, has become an issue for mobile phones since the adaptation of smartphones. Contrary to popular misconception, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not actually prohibit the use of personal electronic devices (including cell phones) on aircraft.
It serves as the official welcome center and a colonial-era living history museum. The Fort of Colonial Mobile is a reconstruction of the city’s original Fort Condé, built on the original fort’s footprint. It features the World War II era battleship USS Alabama, the World War II era submarine USS Drum, Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials, and historical military equipment. The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of South Alabama are open to the public and house primary sources relating to the history of the university, Mobile, and southern Alabama. The National African American Archives and Museum features the history of African-American participation in Mardi Gras, slavery-era artifacts, and portraits and biographies of famous African Americans. It is the largest industrial and transportation complex in the region with more than 70 companies, many of which are aerospace, spread over 1,650 acres (668 ha).
The Alabama State Port Authority owns and operates the public terminals at the Port of Mobile. The linear park will ultimately span seven miles, from Langan (Municipal) Park to Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Avenue, and include trailheads, sidewalks, and bike lanes. Baylinc is a public transportation bus service provided by the Baldwin Rural Transit System in cooperation with the Wave Transit System that provides service between eastern Baldwin County and downtown Mobile. Potential locations for the station include at the foot of Government Street in downtown and in the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, which was favored by the Port of Mobile. About $2.2 million was still needed for infrastructure improvements and the train station must still be built before service begins. Other railroads include the CG Railway (CGR), a rail ship service to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and the Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks (TASD), a switching railroad.

