I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. Other than practical reasons (length of cable), I'll try my best to explain.
By having the tether not on the equator, you'd be introducing a "side load" of sorts. The orbiting mass will tend to move away from the center of mass of the object around which it is orbiting until it reaches equilibrium with the forces holding it in orbit, in this case, gravity, and the cable. An angeled cable under tension, would pull the orbiting mass in the direction that would reach the maximum distance from the center of the earths mass, or the length of the cable as it would radiate directly from the center of the earths mass.
Thus you would be using the cable to alter the center of mass around which it orbits, by altering the forces acting on it. For example, if you attached the cable North of the equator, and began to tension it, you'd would pull the orbiting mass to a geosynchronous orbit at some point North of the equator. While it would be theoretically possible to achieve this type of orbit, it simply would not be practical.
The satellite would need to be put in a stable GS orbit in order to tether it. Once that is done, the cable would be tensioned to pull it to it's new stationary orbit. At the same time the satellite velocity would need to be adjusted to compensate for it's change in altitude, as it would be pulled towed the center of the new equilibrium point which would be a tighter circle, so the velocity would need to be increased to maintain it position over a particular longitude. This would require a vastly greater amount of energy than simple leaving it over the same GS spot, and nudging it outward after it was tethered. Once past the geosynchronous altitude the natural centrifugal forces would provide the energy needed to continue to move it outward until the desired tension is achieved.
There. Did I totally butcher that explanation? Anyway, there it is.
Need to think.