1080i and 1080p are exactly the same amount of pixel data the only difference is one is interlaced and one is progressive.

After viewing other providers HD channels especially when Sky Italia was available in HD compared to Sky UK there really was no contest the UK channels are definitely poor compared to others

Also note the difference on the DVB-S2 UK transponders that hold 5 HD channels are all on QPSK and average around 43mbps, Where as Euro providers have the same 5 channels per transponder but use the better 8PSK and higher bitrate 54mbps

Also worth considering that Sky UK dropped most of there SD channels from the usual 704x576i down to 544x576i an obvious ploy to make people upgrade and think there HD channels where of a greater quality