France Telecom reportedly is in talks to buy into Indian mobile operator Aircel, currently majority owned by Malaysian operator Maxis.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is seeking to buy a 20-25 percent stake in Aircel, which has about 19.6 million subscribers and is valued at between $7 billion and $8 billion, according to the Economic Times. The article says that France Telecom will end up paying about $1.4 billion to $2 billion if the deal goes through at that valuation—although a sticking point is that Maxis wants FT to buy some of its 74 percent stake and France Telecom wants the investment to go straight into Aircel, which is going through a capital intensive phase as it seeks to expand its coverage to all of India. The article also mentions Australian incumbent Telstra as being in talks to buy into Aircel, and that Saudi Telecom may increase its stake in Maxis from 25 percent to 35 percent for about $1 billion.