I skipped the middle pages so forgive me if this was mentioned already, but isn't it possible that instead of showing the bars for the current signal type (LTE, EVDO, 1x) that it will only show call signal strength, likely giving it a much higher showing in # of bars. I think the iPhone 4 did something similar with one of their first updates.
The GN is actually the first phone that accurately shows signal strength of the current network. Something which is showing customers "too much" and VZW may "fix".