the speeds are noted in this quote from the article:
"Since its inception, GSM has evolved faster than CDMA. WCDMA is considered the 3G version of GSM technology. To further speed things up, the 3GPP (the GSM governing body) released extensions called HSPA, which have sped GSM networks up to as fast as 42Mbps, at least in theory.
Our CDMA networks, meanwhile, are stuck at 3.6Mbps. While faster CDMA technologies exist, US carriers chose not to install them and instead turned to 4G LTE to be more compatible with global standards."
I think there is a confusion between speed (velocity) of a mobile phone (affected by the Doppler phenomenon) and speed of data (throughput).
Those two things have totally different meanings..