No, Spectrum and Windstream are not the same company. They are two different telecom companies.

Spectrum is the brand name for the cable, internet, mobile phone and VoIP phone services offered by Charter Communications. The company serves residential and business customers. Charter Communications is the parent company of Spectrum. It is the second-largest broadband provider and third-largest pay TV provider in the U.S. In 2017 customers of Time Warner Cable (TWC) noticed that their invoices were coming from Charter Communications under the Spectrum brand name after Time Warner Cable was acquired by Charter Communications in 2016. The acquisition changed the name of the company from TWC to Spectrum. All of TWC's customers became Spectrum consumers.

Charter Communications reported in 2022 that it had grown to 29.5 million residential customers and that its sales of mobile phone lines increased to 4.8 million.

The challenge for TV providers is that with an internet connection and a smart device you can switch from accessing TV channels via a cable box and coaxial cord, to a new streaming platform like YouTubeTV or Hulu, to name a few. Switching may not lower your monthly tv-watching costs. It depends on what your bundled rate includes and on how many premium streaming platforms you want to watch.

Windstream Holdings, Inc. is a provider of voice and data network communications, as well as managed services, to businesses in the U.S. They also offer residential broadband, phone, and digital TV service. Windstream has gone through various mergers and acquisitions over the years, but it remains a separate entity from Charter Communications.

In 2023 Windstream reported an award for a high Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance from Sustainalytics, a Morningstar company. Windstream added 60,000 new fiber internet connections and now has the service available in 1.5 million locations. The company added 28,700 consumer fiber gigabit internet subscribers and announced an innovative agreement to provide a custom hybrid 400G spectrum solution to a large financial institution.

Both companies operate in some of the same markets and compete for customers, but they are independent of each other.