Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is pivoting out of the Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) mobile joint venture, but expect the MSO's longer-term wireless ambitions to eventually gain some serious traction based on one of its newest hires: Dave Williams, the former chief technology officer of Telefónica O2 Europe. (See MSOs Pivoting Away From Sprint JV.)

A Comcast spokeswoman confirmed the first report that Williams joined the MSO, but clarified that Williams has been appointed senior vice president of wireless technology strategy, and not the CTO of some new wireless division of Comcast. He joined Comcast about a month ago.

Also, to clear things up a bit more, the MSO has not created a new wireless division, the spokeswoman adds, though Comcast has had a group of folks exploring the company's wireless strategy for more than a year.

Considering Williams's wireless resumé, he should be able to teach a Comcast a thing or three about the biz, whether the MSO develops something around its Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum or some far-flung WiMax effort.

According to his bio, Williams joined O2 in 2003 from what was then Cingular Wireless, where he served as VP of strategic planning. Before that, he ran the tech ops for SBC Wireless's west region. He's also been with Orange UK and Vodafone UK during his career. Oh, and he's a board member of the GSM Association (GSMA) .

So now we'll see if the wired and wireless worlds can coexist at Comcast or if the mixture is more like a meeting of matter and anti-matter.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News