Product Agreement

Arc International PLC
30 April 2001



Telecoms and data networks leader chooses ARC for radical new broadband access
                                     card

ARC International plc (LSE:ARK), a leading designer and developer of
customisable, high-performance microprocessors, announced today that telecom
and data networks leader Telesoft Technologies has selected ARC's
user-customisable 32-bit processor for its most advanced multipurpose
broadband access card to date.

Telesoft Technologies' products are installed in fixed and mobile
telecommunications, and IP networks in more than 70 countries around the
world, and are interconnected to all of the world's leading telecommunications
operators and providers. Telesoft is expanding its range of Open Technologies
compact PCI technology solutions, offering system developers the opportunity
to provide high-density telecommunications interface and switching equipment.

ARC's 'soft' technology enables the processor to be downloaded to a chip (the
'FPGA') on the new access card at boot-up. This is significant because the
functionality of the board can be changed without redesigning the card. With
the different mezzanine line interface modules that can be developed, this
helps to make the new card one of the most flexible and future-proof to enter
onto the market in recent years.

The new card supports a number of communications interface standards,
integrating common functions into a base board, and then adding 'mezzanine'
boards to differentiate the card according to individual requirements.
Foremost among the card's many innovative features is a radical new
architecture developed in partnership with ARC. Telesoft's ARC-based solution
enables their CompactPCI card to support a number of separate functions, which
these types of card have to support irrespective of the particular line
interface to be terminated. These include switching, frame handling, H.110 bus
access and a control processor.

Telesoft Technologies has taken the innovative step of collapsing all of these
tasks, which would each normally require discrete functional silicon
components, into a single FPGA device.

Telesoft developers found that the ARChitectTM configuration tool offers a
simple mechanism for including and excluding features in the processor
description. The simple graphical interface allows designers to create
processor cores by simply pointing and clicking to generate a core specific to
the requirements of the application. The result is a more efficient core that
delivers speed, power-saving and board-space benefits.

ARC's development tools enable faster time-to-market too. Said Keith Driver,
Telesoft's OEM product development manager; 'Using these tools we were able to
port our in-house operating system to ARC's user-configurable processor with
little difficulty and expect software development of on-card applications to
follow the same path.'

For more information contact:

ARC International plc

:

Media:

Nitin Dahad

Director of Worldwide Communications

[phone]



Investors:

Peter Aubusson

Investor Relations Manager

[phone]



About ARC International

ARC International plc, is a leading designer and developer of customisable,
high-performance microprocessor cores and related intellectual property
technology for telecommunications, voice and data networking, and consumer
electronics embedded systems. ARC's TangentTM processor is an application
specific processor (ASP) which can be customised for use in a wide variety of
increasingly sophisticated products. The innovative configurability of the
processor enables ARC to license its technology directly to original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) as well as to semi-conductor merchant vendors. ARC's
technology enables designers to reduce time to market and to work with the
semiconductor manufacturers and technologies of their choice.

ARC's licensees include: Austria Mikro Systeme, BrightCom, Chameleon Systems,
Conexant, Fujitsu Microelectronics, Hyperchip, IBM, Infineon Technologies,
SanDisk, Texas Instruments, Vtech Communications and Xemics.

With headquarters in Elstree, England, ARC International plc and its group
companies employ 280 people in research and development, sales, and marketing
offices across North America and Europe. MetaWare Inc., Precise Software
Technologies Inc. and VAutomation Inc. are wholly owned subsidiaries of ARC
International, providing software development tools, hardware and software
intellectual property and real time operating systems offering multiple
integrated products for system on a chip development.

ARC International plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:ARK). The
company's website is located at www.arccores.com



About Telesoft Technologies

Telesoft Technologies has been a world leader in SS7 technologies since 1989.
The company's portfolio of products includes solutions for OEM developers and
integrators, open switching, protocol conversion, and network testing and
monitoring. It is a technology-based company that provides installation
support, consultancy and project management to their partners and customers as
part of its package-based solutions approach. Telesoft's products are
installed in fixed and mobile telecommunications, and IP networks in more than
70 countries around the world, with well in excess of one million lines of SS7
connectivity installed. Their solutions are interconnected to all of the
world's leading telecommunications operators and providers. To see more latest
innovations, please visit Telesoft's website: http://
www.telesoft-technologies.com/



Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts include
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements include, among others, market acceptance of the ARC
technology; fluctuations in and unpredictability of the Company's quarterly
results; general economic and business conditions; regulatory policies adopted
by governmental authorities; assumptions regarding the Company's future
business strategy; changes in technology; competition; ability to attract and
retain qualified personnel; risks associated with the Company's international
operations; and other uncertainties that are discussed in the 'Investment
Considerations' section of the Company's listing particulars dated 28
September 2000 filed with the United Kingdom Listing Authority and the
Registrar of Companies in England and Wales.


ARC International (UK) Ltd. and ARC Cores Inc. trade under the name of ARC
Cores.

ARC Cores is a trademark of ARC International (UK) Limited.

All other brands or product names are the property of their respective
holders.