1. A telecommunications edge cloud (TEC) element, comprising: a TEC hardware layer comprising: storage resources comprising a memory; networking resources coupled to the storage resources and comprising a plurality of network input and output ports; and computing resources coupled to the storage resources and the networking resources, wherein the computing resources comprise a plurality of processors; a TEC operating system (TECOS) coupled to the TEC hardware layer and configured to control and manage the storage resources, the networking resources, and the computing resources, wherein the TECOS is executed by one of the processors; and a TEC application layer coupled to the TECOS, wherein the TEC application layer is configured to process a request from a client using the TECOS, wherein the computing resources are configured to execute cloud applications to provide a service to the client when the request processed by the TEC application layer is a service request, wherein at least one of the networking resources and the storage resources is configured to provide data to the client when the request comprises a data request, and wherein the TEC element is deployed between the client and a packet network.